Fame
by LadyRaven-321
Summary: Kenny is asked to join a band with Token, Clyde, and Craig. Neither of them are prepared on how famous they soon will become. (Borderline rated M for course language and drug use).
1. Feeling Unwanted

**Author's Note:** Hi all, this is my first South Park fan fiction. I have written others which can be found on profile page. Please enjoy this story and I look forward to any of your reviews on it. Thank you.

**Disclaimer:** 'South Park' is created and owned by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. This story is not for profit, but to share the fun in writing it.

**Summary:** Kenny is asked to join a band with Token, Clyde, and Craig. Neither of them are prepared on how famous they soon will become.

**Chapter 1 - Feeling Unwanted**

Once again, Kenny feels his soul in a limbo. The familiar sense of having a dreamless sleep. Pretty much he is the only ten years old in South Park, maybe even in the world, that he could literally say he has been to both Heaven and Hell, then back again. His last memory before his resent death was out playing with his best friends Stan, Kyle, and Cartman. They were at the basket ball court in the park after school, which must have been a few days ago - or maybe it was a week. At times Kenny couldn't tell how long he was gone until he was able to look at a calendar, or someone mentions something. During the basket ball game, he watched Stan shoot the ball into the basket it bounced off the rim, and rolled out into the street. Naturally, Kenny volunteered to go get it when out of nowhere a speeding truck flies by, and hits him as he is crossed the street to grab the ball.

All Kenny saw was darkness. For a while it was a light, but it long since grew dim. The feeling of weightlessness soon disappeared, and he was able to feel the tips of his fingers and toes again. Air fills his lungs as he began to regain consciousness. Kenny flutters his eyes open to peer at the water stains on the ceiling above him. The morning light from outside of the window crept in through the torn sheet pinned up in front of it. The sunlight allowed Kenny to tell somewhat the time - _could be morning,_ he though. The all too familiar scene of his room made waking up all the more dreary. How he would love to come back from death in a more nicer room. Kenny turned his head off the left to look at one of his posters of a model in a very sexy bikini. He realized that all the items in his room weren't too bad. At least one thing was pretty to look at.

He started his usual ritual after awaking from his death. First he sat up to check each of his limbs - yes he still has two legs and two arms. All his fingers and toes are still attached and working fine. No holes, or scars around his body and head - good. Oh, and yes, still wearing his old orange parka with his hood covering most of head and face.

"Kenny?" His mother cried out from the hall. She opened the door slowly to see Kenny looking back at her. "Oh, you are awake now. Well, get up, you've got school today." She spoke with a tired southern accent.

With a heavy sigh, Kenny then crawled out of his springy bed mattress. He walked over to the closet and reached inside where his dresser drawers stood crooked. Opening one of the drawers he quickly found his matching orange pants that goes with his parka, and his black shoes sat beside the closet. After putting them on, he saunters out of his room.

He started to walk past the kitchen when him mom called out to him again. "Kenny, wait."

The young blond paused to look over at his mom, sitting at the kitchen table with a bottle of vodka and an empty glass beside it. She gestured with her hand towards a plate on the table that had what looked like could be breakfast, and a few paper-like objects sitting beside the plate.

"I saved you a pop tart, and some food stamps you can use your lunch." She said.

Kenny walked up to the table. He took the pop tart and began nibbling at it as he grabbed the food stamps, and shoved them in his pocket.

"Thanks mom," He said with a mouthful of the sweetened pastry.

"Ok then. You better hurry. You don't want to be late for the bus." Mrs. McCormack warned.

Kenny takes another bit of the pop tart then nodded to his mom before leaving out the front door. As soon as she heard her son closing the door, Mrs. McCormack begins to pour the vodka into the empty glass on the table. She only fills the glass 1/4 full before taking it up to her mouth. Tilting her head back she swallows the entire mouthful of alcohol. She pauses for a moment before pouring herself another glass.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"Hey, there he is." Cartman smirked as he saw Kenny walking up the street. "We were just talking about you."

"Yeah dude," Stan nodded. "Where did you go during our basket ball game on Friday? We couldn't find you the entire weekend."

_Hmm, only been gone a few days then._ Kenny thought. He shrugged his shoulders then replied, "I went home." It wasn't really a lie, but knowing how his friends don't really seem to believe him coming back from the dead, he chose to make his answer short and simple.

"Well, the next time you do that you should tell us so we are not so worried." Kyle said in a lecturing tone. "We actually thought something had happened to you."

_Something did, you just don't remember._ Kenny grumbled in his mind. He did not bother to respond to Kyle. Instead he stood and stared blankly out on the road in front of him.

The bus arrived before any of the other boys could say anything. As soon as the four boys walked on the driver drove off again, taking all the children aboard to school.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

The school bell rang, and the students left their classrooms to head for the cafeteria. With the food stamps his mom saved for him, Kenny was able to buy a baloney sandwich and small carton of milk. It wasn't much, but at least it will have to do till dinner. He wondered if she was going to serve eggos again.

As Kenny sat at the table with his classmates, he briefly glanced at what they each grabbed for their lunch. They all seemed to have picked the special of the day, Lasagne with a slice of garlic bread. He silently wished that he had enough food stamps to get that instead. Quietly, though, Kenny simply opened his baloney sandwich package and pulled out one half of it.

"Hey Kenny, low of food stamps again?" Cartman teased.

"Leave him alone, fatass!" Kyle barked from across the table.

"Shut up, you stupid Jew!" Cartman shouted back.

Kenny silently nibbled on his sandwich as his friends continued their scream-a-thon of insults.

"Guys! Guys! We need to stay focused." Stan said, instantly getting the attention of everyone at the table. He sat up straight and addressed Tweek, Kevin, and Butters sitting beside him. "Now Tweek said his dad can give him the cash. Kevin is going to write the Chinese symbols he learned, and he was able to bring money to the table this morning. Butters, however, still needs to grab his allowance this week to pay off the rest, but I think we will have enough to begin."

Cartman let out an exasperated sigh. "Butters, I thought you said you already had the money."

"I said I saved half from last week's allowance." Butters explained. "This week I will have the rest."

"Hey, what are you guys talking about?" Kenny spoke up in muffled words. All of what he heard so far is based on a scheme, and it sounded like something he could be interested in.

"Oh, sorry dude." Stan shrugged. "We are going to make and sell Chinese good luck charms. It's really big selling item these days, especially for the Chinese New Year coming up soon. We couldn't find you this weekend, so we asked Butters, Kevin, and Tweek to join in.

"Awk!" Tweek squawked with a twitch in his eye.

"Each of us are putting in Thirty Dollars, and that should cover the cost of materials and shipping. We almost got enough to begin the preparations." Kyle added in.

"And besides Kenny, you are poor and probably wouldn't be able to afford your share. Truthfully, that wouldn't be fair to the rest of us, now would it?" Cartman added in a half joke.

"Oh," Kenny lowered his eyes down at his half eaten sandwich slice.

Kyle frowned as he suddenly felt guilty in leaving out one of his best friends. "Awe, Kenny. If you want we can try to add you to the team somehow?"

"No, it's ok. I'll see you around." Feeling a bit rejected - kind of like a spare tire that went flat, Kenny didn't know how to fit in with his friends and their plan, especially when he had no money to participate with. He decided to just pick up his half eaten sandwich, and small carton of milk, and just leave the table.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Outside, Kenny is one of the first to leave the cafeteria. He sniffled back some tears then guzzles back the remainder drop of milk. With a swing of his arm, Kenny tossed the small carton in the trash can as he walked by. He pulled out his cheap mp3 player and scrolled down his downloaded music till he found the right song he wanted to play. Kenny sat down on the marry-go-around, closed his eyes, and began to sing along to the music.

_Ave Maria Gratia Plena_

_Maria Gratia Plena_

_Maria Gratia Plena_

_Ave, ave dominus_

_Dominus tecum_

_Benedicta tu in mulieribus_

_Et benedictus_

_Et benedictus fructus ventris_

_Ventris tui Jesus_

_Ave Maria..._huh?

Kenny was so wrapped in with the music that he didn't notice three figures staring down at him till he was in the middle of the song. He looked up and saw Craig, Clyde, and Token. The three young boys had stunned expressions on their faces.

"Whoa, you are pretty good Kenny." Craig said in a nasally voice.

"Yeah, we didn't know you could sing." Token added.

"I don't sing that well," Kenny softly muffled behind his tightly wrapped orange hood. He averted his eyes downward towards the ground as he turned off his mp3 player.

"Sure you do. That was amazing on how you managed to hit those high notes." Craig commented.

"Hey guys, why don't we ask Kenny to join us in our band?" Clyde suggested.

"You guys are in a band?" Kenny asked curiously, looking back up at them.

"Yup, we just started it a week ago. Every other day we meet at Token's and play our instruments." Craig explained.

"You should come over and practice with us." Token offered.

Kenny thought for a moment. How would he participate? He doesn't play that many instruments, other than one he could think of. "Well, I guess I can sort of play the drums." He said in a shy manner.

"Actually Kenny, I'm playing the drums. I've been taking lessons for the last year and a half." Clyde addressed himself.

"Oh," the poor boy sulked.

"But we could always use another singer in our group." Clyde continued.

"What do you say, Kenny? Want to join us?" Craig once again offered.

Kenny thought about it for a moment. At first he wondered if this was a trick, or maybe a joke at his expense. He had assumed that Craig and the others hated him, especially when he hung out with Stan, Kyle, and Cartman. Once again he looked up at them. They each had a sincere expression on their faces. He didn't think that Craig would be the type to deceive, or trick anyone, not like Cartman would. Plus, his friends had already planned a project without him, so it would seem that he didn't have anything else to do right now. Kenny sat up and nodded to Craig, Clyde and Token.

"Alright, what time should I show up?" He asked.

"You can meet us at my place around four O'clock." Token instructed.

"Yeah, see you then, Kenny." Craig said before walking off.

Clyde and Token both nodded and followed Craig. Kenny simply waved at them as the left. Once Kenny realized he was along again, he turned the music back on to listen to the rest of the Ave Maria song. He started to feel a little more hungry, so he pulled out the rest of the sandwich from his pocket and began to eat it.


	2. Talent

**Author's Note:** In this chapter I am borrowing the lyrics to the song 'When I'm Gone', sung by 3 Doors Down.

**Chapter 2 - Talent**

Almost a month has gone by and the newly formed band with Craig, Token, Clyde, and Kenny still practiced almost every evening after school and some afternoons in the weekend. Saturdays, happened to be the best days to get together since school did not take up most of the day. Plus, whenever they wanted to have a break from playing music, the boys would go play outside in Token's backyard.

It took some time, but Craig and the others managed to convince Kenny to take off his orange hood in order to sing more clearly. The three boys figured that Kenny was good enough to be their lead singer in their band, Token didn't mind since he enjoyed playing base, and he often sang back up with Craig, and sometimes Clyde.

As Clyde banged on the drums, Craig strummed his guitar, while Token kept tune to his base guitar, Kenny sung the words. The boys kept in synchronized rhythm perfectly. It felt right with each note they played and sang. The music they chose was rock 'n roll, since that type of music had been more fun for them. They admitted since becoming a four member band their music had improved, and Kenny, not since his trip to Romania, felt his singing defiantly gotten better as well. Each of them still had a bit of struggle trying to figure out a good name to call themselves, but for now, they just wanted to keep playing.

As the song came to a close, Kenny backed away from the mic as he tried desperately to hide a dizzy feeling that washed over him suddenly.

"Hey that was alright," Craig said as he completed the last bit of the song, but then turned to Kenny. "Uh, Kenny you did come across a bit soft near the end though."

"Yeah, I know." The blond boy admitted with a sigh. The others were able to see that Kenny seemed a little more tired than usual, and felt concerned for him.

"Is everything alright, Ken?" Token asked.

"I'm fine," Kenny lied. However the real answer came the second Kenny's stomach let out a loud, angry growl. He tried to hide it by covering his mid section with his hands.

"Whoa," Clyde breathed. "I'd say that was an _eight_ on the Richter scale."

His eyes grew wide, as well did Craig and Token's.

Blushing, Kenny looked at the others that obviously heard his stomach complaining, and with a sheepish grin he said, "Eh, sorry."

Token blinked before speaking. "Um, maybe we should break for a bit, and get something to eat."

"Good idea," Clyde nodded, still shocked with how loud Kenny's stomach was.

Still embarrassed with his hungry tummy, Kenny gazed down at the floor. He didn't feel right taking charity, but at times he would have to swallow his pride if friends were to offer him something to eat. Not often did his best friends, Stan, Kyle, and Cartman - especially Cartman, would offer him something if they heard his stomach growl. As far as Kenny could remember, Cartman would start laughing at him and ragged on how poor his family was. A touch on his shoulder made Kenny jumped slightly. He looked up to see Craig.

"Come on. I'm sure you will feel better once you get some food in ya." He said softly.

"Ok," Kenny murmured with a nod before allowing himself to be led upstairs from Token's basement up to his kitchen.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Token's mother happened to be home for the day, and decided to prepare the boys a proper lunch. As the boys ate their lunch, Linda Black stood by the sink, and started to fill the dishwasher up with dirty plates and cutlery. She glanced up to see the boys just finishing up their sandwiches, and were now starting on the cookies that were placed on one plate for each of them to share. Linda started to worry a bit when she had realized she left out one cookie too many. She eyed the boys carefully to see what they might do.

Each of the boys finished their cookie and saw the fifth one on the plate. Kenny reached up to grab the glass of milk in front of him and started to sip slowly from it. He decided to let the others decide amongst themselves on which one of them would take the cookie. Token glanced up at Craig and Clyde. The three boys seemed to have mentally agreed to something.

Token reached over the table and pushed the plate up to Kenny. Kenny saw this action with wide eyes.

"Here Kenny, you have the last cookie." Token said.

"I-I'm ok guys, thanks." Kenny shied down in this chair.

"Kenny when you sing we rather hear your voice and not your stomach, so take the last cookie already." Craig demanded.

The blond boy chuckled, amused with Craig's comment. "Ok." Kenny reached up and did as he was told by accepting the round treat off the plate.

Mrs. Black smiled warmly at the scene. She defiantly was proud of the son she helped raise. Movement coming from the kitchen entrance caused Linda to look over to see her husband, Steve Black walking in.

"Hi, I'm home." Mr. Black announced as he walked right up to his wife and kissed her on the cheek.

"Hi dad," Token chirped.

"Hello son. You and your friends practicing your music again?" He asked.

"Yes sir. Say, would you and mom like to hear us play?"

Mr. and Mrs. Black looked at each other for a moment. Linda smiled and turned to the boys. "Of course we will." She said.

"For just one song though, son." Steve added with his index finger raised. "I still have some work to do this afternoon."

"That's cool." Token nodded.

The boys quickly finished off their cookies and milk then led Token's parents back down to the basement. Steve and Linda sat down on the small couch off to the side as the boys prepared for the song they will sing. The four of them whispered amongst themselves as they viewed the list of songs they enjoy playing the most. A choice was made and the boys took their positions with their instruments. Kenny adjusted his microphone slightly.

Craig started by stringing his guitar for a few chords. Clyde followed up by drumming a beat, and Token plucking at his bass guitar just as Kenny took a deep breath before singing into the microphone.

_There's another world inside of me that you may never see  
>There's secrets in this life that I can't hide<br>Somewhere in this darkness there's a light that I can't find  
>Maybe it's too far away, maybe I'm just blind<br>Maybe I'm just blind_

Token, Clyde, and Craig joined Kenny in singing the chorus.

_So hold me when I'm here, right me when I'm wrong  
>Hold me when I'm scared and love me when I'm gone<br>Everything I am and everything in me  
>Wants to be the one you wanted me to be<em> 

Both Steve and Linda turned to each other. They were both stunned and impressed with how these boys played. The boys continued singing the next verse of the chorus.

_I'll never let you down even if I could  
>I'd give up everything if only for your good<br>So hold me when I'm here, right me when I'm wrong  
>You can hold me when I'm scared you won't always be there<br>So love me when I'm gone, _

Kenny started singing solo again.

_love me when I'm gone_

_When your education x-ray cannot see under my skin  
>I won't tell you a damn thing that I could not tell my friends<br>And roaming through this darkness I'm alive but I'm alone  
>Part of me is fighting this but part of me is gone<em> 

The rest of the band again joined in singing the chorus.

_So hold me when I'm here, right me when I'm wrong  
>Hold me when I'm scared and love me when I'm gone<br>Everything I am and everything in me  
>Wants to be the one you wanted me to be<em>

_I'll never let you down even if I could  
>I'd give up everything if only for your good<br>So hold me when I'm here, right me when I'm wrong  
>You can hold me when I'm scared, you won't always be there<em>

__Kenny took a deep breath briefly before brining himself closer to the mic. _"So love me when I'm goooonnnne" _His voice held strong for eight beats. Singing on a full stomach was certainly better than an empty one.

This really impressed Token's parents, especially Steve Black. Both of them stood up and clapped. The boys stopped playing, even though the song was only half done. Each of them turned to Mr. and Mrs. Black in confusion.

"Do you guys really think it's that good?" Token asked.

"Oh yes," His mother cheered. "We had no idea how much talent you boys actually had."

"Indeed." Mr. Black added. "Kenny, did you by chance take any singing lessons, or is that simply a natural talent you have?"

The blond boy blushed. He felt a little strange to be getting such praise for his singing. Knowing that Mr. Black did deserve an answer, Kenny looked up at him. "I did take some lessons when my mom and I went over to Romania for a shot while." He answered softly, digging his toe bashfully into the floor.

"Really," Linda nodded in amazement. "What sort of singing did you study there?"

"Um, opera." Kenny smiled sheepishly.

"That's impressive." Steve asked, as he scratched his chin. "How long were there for?"

Kenny shrugged, "I don't know. About a week, or so? I don't think we were able to afford to stay longer than that." He finished with a slight lie - no sense in telling them he was actually killed by American soldiers instead. A brief sadness washed over his eyes as he remembered that moment of one of his past lives.

"Not bad for only a week's lesson." Steve pondered with a nod.

"Thanks," Kenny spoke softly.

"How about you Clyde, and Craig?" Linda asked facing the other two boys. "Did you to take any lessons with your instruments?"

"Yes ma'am," Craig spoke. "I have taken lessons with my guitar for almost a year now. But I don't get a chance to practice at home much, because my dad complains about the noise."

"And I have been practicing my lessons with the drums for a year and a half now." Clyde proudly said. "Um, I don't get to practice at home for the same reason as Craig."

"Well, you four boys have our blessings to keep practicing here all you like." Steve said encouragingly.

"Thanks dad," Token chimed.

"Now if you boys will excuse me, I must head back upstairs to, um, attend some business." Steve announced, gently grabbing his wife's arm he whispered to her, "Linda, would you come up with me please." She nodded, and the two of them started up the stairs.

"Alright, thanks again mom and dad." Token waved them off.

"Yes, thank you Mr. and Mrs. Black." Craig added.

"Yeah, thanks." Both Clyde and Kenny spoke in stereo.

Mr. and Mrs. Black closed the door to the basement, still amazed with the talent their son and his friends have.

"You know, I should talk to one of my client's that owes me a favour. There may be a good chance we can get these boys to perform at the charity concert next month." Mr. Black suggested.

"Steven, do you think they would be ready for something like that?" Linda pondered.

"Well, we will soon find out." Her husband said before pulling out his cell phone from his jacket pocket, and walked off to his office den.

Mrs. Black turned to the basement door when she heard the boys continue playing with a different song. She started to smile again thinking that perhaps they could be ready to perform if given the chance.


	3. What to Call Ourselves

**Chapter 3 - What to Call Ourselves**

As soon as Kenny handed some food stamps to the cafeteria cashier, he walked off with his tray of food to the table where his friends, Kyle, Stan, and Cartman sat with Tweek, Kevin, and Butters. He wondered if they were still talking about their lucky charms project. Kenny shook his head, something told him there would be a lot of arguing going on while he tried to eat his lunch. He wasn't even five steps away from the table when he heard Eric Cartman complaining.

"Kevin, I swear I'm going to kill you." The fat child spoke in an irritated tone.

"What's going on?" Kenny muffled through his orange hooded parka.

"Turns out Kevin only knows how to draw his name and a few other small words in Chinese characters. He has yet to learn more next week when he actually starts the second half of his class." Stan replied.

"I thought I had mentioned that to you guys." Kevin said in defense.

"Ah, no. Clearly you did not mention that very important detail, Kevin, you stupid asshole." Cartman spat in anger.

"Well, this will set us back a bit." Kyle added.

"A bit?" Cartman barked. "I have clients waiting for three thousand and nine hundred of our lucky charms to be delivered in less than ten days. How the hell are we going to get them all done if we are waiting for Kevin to not only draw out the character symbols, but to actually start learning how to draw the damn things for each of the charms?"

Wagh! Too much pressure!" Tweek screeched.

"Oh hamburgers!" Butters pounded his fists nervously.

"Ten days?" Stan gasped. "Cartman are you nuts, we haven't even got enough materials for that many. And even if we did, how is Kevin to draw out three thousand and nine hundred of them in such a short time?"

"Well, looks like some of us need to get cracking, because I have been doing my part over here." Cartman rolled his eyes skyward.

Kenny couldn't help but to smile behind his tightly wrapped hood. For once he was glad to not be a part of his friends' scheme. He was about to take his seat beside Kyle when a voice called out to him.

"Kenny! Kenny! You have to come over to our table." Craig shouted excitedly. The raven-haired boy ran quickly up to the poor boy.

"Huh, why?" Kenny asked.

"Token said he has something to tell us."

"Really? What?"

"I don't know for sure , but it has something to do with our band." Craig said, as he slightly tugged at Kenny's arm.

"_Kinny!_" Cartman barked. "You are sitting with us. You've hung around those assholes far too often lately! And besides, _a band_? Kinny, _puh-leeze_!"

"Yeah, man." Kyle agreed. "We finally figured out a way to get you involved with our project, and it wouldn't cost you much at all. We were going to tell you how. And besides, we could use all the help we can get at this moment - thanks to _Cartman, _and his client's order." He finished, growling at his irritating fat friend.

Kenny paused for a moment. He looked at his friends sitting down at the table. They all had a hopeful look on their faces - almost pleading for him to join them. Then he looked at Craig. Then back at his friends. With a shrug, he finally spoke, "Sorry guys," he said before running off with Craig.

"Son-of-a-bitch." Cartman grumbled under his breath. He and the others watched as Kenny ran off with Craig to the other end of the cafeteria.

"Ok, we are all here!" Craig announced to Token and Clyde as he, himself, and Kenny sat down at the table opposite to them.

"Yeah, so spill already Token. What's so important that you need to tell all of us." Clyde asked. He picked up a French fry from his plate and started to chew it.

"Alright, so here it is." Token cleared his throat and continued. "My dad has gotten us a small part gig at the charity concert held in the park near Starks Pond next month. It's only for one song, but it will allow us to test our skills in front of a real audience."

"Wow," Clyde, Craig, and Kenny all gasped at once.

Token reached into his backpack and pulled out four pieces of paper. He started to hand out each copy to his friends as he continued. "Dad picked this song and suggested that we practice it for the concert. He figured it would suit the occasion, and he also wants us to pick a name for ourselves too. Something for the host of the show to say when he announces us onto the stage."

The boys started to glance down at the paper and glimpsed through the song.

"This is a pretty cool song," Craig nodded as he read the words on the page. His head rose with a more serious expression on his face. "So what do we call ourselves?" He asked.

"Oh, how about we call ourselves the _Rockin' Avenger League_?" Token suggested with excitement in his tone.

Craig, Clyde, and Kenny instantly burst out with laughter.

"What?" The African-American boy shrugged.

"I don't think that will work for us." Craig snickered.

"Maybe _The Justifiables_?" Clyde piped in.

The others shook their head and scrunched up their noses up at the idea of that name.

"Young Rockers." Craig said as he held out his hands in a framed position.

"No!" Kenny, Token, and Clyde breathed and rolled their eyes skyward.

"Man, this is hard. At this rate it'll just be easier to use our own names." Kenny flopped his elbow on the table and head into his hand. He let out an exasperated sigh and drew his eyes in a defeated position aimed at the table.

Clyde, Token, and Craig looked at each other and pondered that thought. Slowly Token pointed at each member of the group and said, "K-C-C-T."

Kenny raised an eyebrow and looked up to his band mates as each one of them allowed the name to sink in.

"_The K-C-C-T_?" Clyde scratched his head. "Sort of sounds like a name for a radio station, or something."

"I don't know. That could work, though." Craig finally said.

"Yeah," Kenny nodded in agreement.

The four boys finished up their lunch as the continued to discuss ideas on how to perform with the new song Mr. Black suggested.


	4. Hell is for Children

**Author's Note:** First I want to thank those of you that sent me a review. I'm glad you like the story so far.

The lyrics for the song _"Hell is for Children"_ sung by Pat Benatar are borrowed for this chapter.

**Chapter 4 - Hell is for Children**

The volunteer crew had just finished setting up the stage near Starks Pond for the show. A big banner was just put up above the stage that read _Fight Against_ _Women and Children Abuse_. Many of the people that showed up for the charity concert arrived to see one particular group performing, U2, which will be playing later in the evening. Some other performers before the featured band are scheduled to sing only one, maybe two songs each. Concession stands are also up, and already serving some guests beverages and snacks. Souvenir tables were being set to sell pins, stickers, and T-shirts. Most of the profits will be going towards the charity, while the rest would be to help pay for the evening's entertainment.

Mr. Black pulled in the parking lot near the pond with the boys in his minivan. As soon as Steve parked, Token jumped out with his friends, Clyde, Craig, and Kenny. The young boys rushed to the back of the minivan before Token's dad opened the back hatch so they could grab their instruments. Kenny, being that he had no musical instrument, grabbed a duffle bag which carried a change of clothes that Mr. Black was kind enough to buy for him to wear on stage. The young blond boy, however, placed his bag down to help Clyde with his drum set by putting each of the encased drums on a trolley.

"Ok boys, make sure you have everything. I'm going to close the door now." Mr. Black announced.

"Ok, looks like we got it all, dad." Token said as he watched Kenny hand the last drum to Clyde.

"Thanks Kenny." Clyde nodded after taking the drum and putting it on the trolley with the rest.

"No problem," the young blond muffled through his orange hood. Kenny picked up his bag again and walked towards the stage alongside with his band mates and Mr. Black.

Mr. Black turned his head towards the parking lot to see a familiar man step out of his car. Steve stopped in his tracks and smiled. "You boys go on ahead and set up your instruments on stage. I'll be along shortly." He told them before walking towards the man in the parking lot.

"Ok, dad." Token said.

Moments later, the boys were almost done setting up the equipment near the back of the stage. They had it in a way so when it was their turn to perform all they needed to do was move their gear slightly. Other bands were setting up some of their instruments as well. After checking the schedule, they would be fifth to be on stage, so at least they wouldn't be waiting too long for their turn to perform. The boys were already starting feel butterflies in their stomachs. As the last drum was set up a voice called out to them.

"Hey fellers look, it's Kenny, Clyde, Craig, and Token!"

The four boys all turned their heads in surprise to see Butters with Kyle, Stan, Cartman, Kevin, and Tweek walking up towards the stage.

"What the hell are you guys doing here?" Kenny's voice sounded more high pitched then normal due to shock of his friends arrival.

"We were able to complete a few hundred of the lucky charms, but missed the quota of Cartman's so called client that turned out to be some sort of scam artist anyway." Kyle explained. Cartman crossed his arms and gave a look that said 'it's not my fault'.

"So we decided to try selling them here with some of the profits going to the charity for abused women and children." Stan added.

"Some profits? Where are the rest going?" Craig asked with skepticism in his voice.

"Well, we do hope we get some of our money back for the materials we bought." Kevin said as-matter-or-fact.

"Yeah, Arrh!" Tweek twitched.

"Guess that makes sense," Craig shrugged.

"So, uh, _Kinny_..." Cartman cooed in a taunting way. "In a rock band, huh?"

With an eyebrow raised, Kenny wondered where Cartman was headed with this - nothing good he bet. "Ah, yeah." He answered simply.

"And what type of instrument would you be playing? The triangle?" Eric Cartman forced a loud snicker into his hands. "Or perhaps a harmonica?" He said before letting out a stifled laugh. "Or maybe a kazoo?" Eric broke out in a roaring laugh. "You know, because your family is so poor you can't afford a real musical instrument...like a guitar." Again Cartman snorted, oblivious of the fact that he was the only one laughing at his own cruel jokes.

Stan and Kyle noticed the hurt in Kenny's eyes and turned to glare at Cartman. Kyle then looked back up at Kenny. "Ignore him, dude. I'm sure whatever you are going to do tonight will sound fine." The Jewish boy said kind-heartily.

"Yeah, absolutely!" Stan added with encouraging tone in his voice.

"We will be sure to cheer extra loud so you can hear us, ok?" Butters chimed. Kevin and Tweek both nodded their heads in agreement.

"Um, thanks guys." Craig quickly said before resting a hand on Kenny's shoulder. "Kenny why don't you go get changed now. We have everything pretty much set up here."

"Kay," Kenny bobbed his head in a single nod. He walked over to the right exit of the stage, picking up his bag before he stepped off.

As soon as Kenny was out of earshot, Craig, Token, and Clyde all glared down at Cartman.

"I wouldn't be so quick to judge him if I were you, fatass." Craig growled.

"Yeah, you just might just be surprised with tonight's concert." Token added. Clyde simply nodded along with Token's comment.

With that the three boys picked up their instrument cases and walked them off the stage.

"I wonder what they meant by that?" Stan asked.

"I don't know, guess we will find out." Kyle shrugged.

Cartman let out a loud yawn. "Well, I'm done here. Let's go get our stand set up, so we can sell our Lucky Charms." He said.

"Good idea," Butters commented before he followed his large friend away from the stage.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

The fourth band had just finished their last song, and bowed to the cheering audience. As the band left the stage some of the volunteer stage crew came out to move the instruments around for the next band to play. The host trotted onto the stage right up to the microphone, and said, "Alright let's hear it for _Mike and the flies_!"

The audience once again clapped and cheered. Near the back of the crowd, by the souvenir tables Stan, Kyle, Cartman stood in front of their Lucky Charms table. Tweek, Kevin, and Butters stood behind the table. Butters collected some money from a customer while Kevin took a bag from Tweek after he finished wrapping up one of the charms. The customer walked away after receiving his perchance from the boys.

"Now for a new band that is fresh to the stage, give it up for _The K-C-C-T_!" The host introduced. Stan, Kyle, Butters, Kevin, and Tweek, as well as most of the audience clapped.

"_The K-C-C-T_? _Pttf_," Cartman scoffed as he crossed his arms in a huff. "What a stupid name."

"Cartman, _shh_!" Kyle snapped.

"Wooo! Go _K-C-C-T_!" Butters cheered as he stepped out from behind the table and stood beside Stan. Tweek and Kevin also walked out from behind the table to get a better view of the stage.

Craig, Clyde, Token, and Kenny walked out on stage nervously as the host wondered past them off stage. Kenny now wore a black and orange hoodie that covered most of his head, especially with the shadow of the hood itself casted down on his face. Clyde went straight for his drums that were placed center back stage, Token picked up his base guitar near the left of the stage, and Craig took his guitar on the right. Surprising Cartman and the others, Kenny stood, back facing the audience, at center stage in front of the microphone. The crowd murmured to each other as the young boys prepared to play for them.

"Wait a minute." Cartman clued in. "_Kinny_ isn't holding any instruments."

"Guess this mean that he will be singing lead." Kyle pondered.

"Yeah, wonder what they are going to play?" Stan asked, scratching the back of his head.

"Ah, need I remind you assholes that _Kinny_ can't sing." Cartman pointed out. "So, I'm betting this will be really interesting," he snorted.

The boys on stage took a moment to make sure their instruments were adjusted properly then a quick glance from each other they knew they were ready to start playing. Clyde started to pound a beat on the drum as Token strummed the base guitar. Craig then twanged the chords of his guitar. Slowly, Kenny turns around to face the microphone and the audience. The crowd stood silent with anticipation. The boys nervously became aware of the silent stares from the audience. It made them uneasy about their performance.

Kenny, swallowed a lump that formed in his throat, then took in a deep breath. He leaned closer to the microphone and sang,_ "They cry in the dark, so you can't see their tears. They hide in the light, so you can't see their fears,"_

Stan, and the others, including Cartman, all dropped their jaws in shock. They had no idea that Kenny could actually sing so well.

Kenny continued.

_"Forgive and forget, all the while  
>Love and pain become one and the same<br>In the eyes of a wounded child," _Kenny lifts his hood up slightly so his face could be seen. _"Because Hell"_

_"Hell Is For Children,"_ Craig, Token, and Clyde joined in with Kenny.

_"And you know that their little lives can become such a mess," _Kenny sang with a hiss._ "Hell"_

_"Hell Is For Children,"_ all four boys joined in.

_"And you shouldn't have to pay for your love with your bones and your flesh,"_ Kenny sung solo. He hung his head as Craig, Token, and Clyde continued playing their instruments. The boys still could sense the silence of the crowd, and wondered if they were doing alright with the song. Majority of the audience stood in awe as the boys played.

"Dude," was all that Stan could say.

"I know," Kyle confirmed.

"Gosh fellers," Butters turned to his friends - whom were all still staring with wide eyes up at the stage. "Did you guys know Kenny could sing like that?"

"No, Butters." Stan said, slowly turned his head towards the little blond boy. "We didn't."

"I can't believe it," Cartman shook his head in disbelief.

"Clyde, Token, and Craig are pretty good too." Butters commented.

"Yeah, they are." Kyle nodded.

_"It's all so confusing, this brutal abusing,"_ Kenny sang - pulling his hands over his eyes. _"They blacken your eyes, and then apologize." _He continued as he slowly lowered his hands back down from his face.

_"You're daddy's good girl, and don't tell mommy a thing,"_ he shook his index finger from side to side at the audience.

_"Be a good little boy, and you'll get a new toy,"_ he sang while pulling out a tiny cheap toy train from the pocket of his hoodie, and held it out for everyone to see. _"Tell grandma you fell off the swing."  
><em>  
><em>"Because Hell,"<em> Kenny sang forcefully as he slammed the toy train onto the stage. The cheap toy bounced and broke into a few pieces.

_"Hell Is For Children,"_ all four boys sang together.

_"And you know that their little lives can become such a mess,"_ Kenny sang. He picked up the microphone off the cradle and held it closer to his lips. _"Hell,"_

_"Hell Is For Children,"_ again the others sang with Kenny.

_"And you shouldn't have to pay for your love with your bones and your flesh,"_ Kenny stood firmly. _"No, Hell Is For Chiiiildrrrreeeen." _He held that last note strong for eight beats without cracking his voice. However, he did lean his head so far back that his hood slid off to reveal his messy golden locks of hair.

It was at this moment that the audience started to whoop and applaud with loud thundering claps.

"Whoa!" Stan and the others gasped.

"That lousy, good for nothing, _son-of-a-__mother-fucking-bitch_!" Cartman growled while stomping his foot onto the ground, overcoming his shock of hearing his friend sing on stage.

"Alright Kenny!" Shouted Kyle, ignoring Cartman's comment. The others, except Cartman, cheered with the crowd.

The four boys on stage heard the roar of the crowd. This made them feel more confident with their performance. Each of them sang into their microphones, with Kenny's voice being the loudest.

_Hell  
>Hell is for Hell<br>Hell is for Hell  
>Hell Is For Children<br>_

Kenny stepped aside as Craig moved closer to front center stage for a guitar solo. Again the audience cheered with each chord the young boy strung.

Off to the front right of the stage Mr. Black stood with a Caucasian man dressed in a suit and tie. The man was holding up a small video cam quarter and filming the boys on stage.

Mr. Black leaned over to the man and shouted into his ear over the noise. "So what do you think of them so far?" he asked.

"They certainly have the talent my agency is looking for, Mr. Black." The man shouted back.

"Really?" Steve smiled hopefully.

"The executive producers and I all agreed when you sent us a video of them rehearsing that we would consider bringing them to L.A. to possibly set up a contract with us. But my personal opinion, I believe that these boys have a really good chance of that happening." The man added. Both he and Steve shifted their attention to two other men talking beside them.

"Wow, these young boys make me want to donate more to this charity," One man shouted to his friend.

"Yeah me too," his friend shouted back at him.

The agent and Steve smirked at each other as they over heard the conversation beside them. With a broad smile, the agent nodded his head and said, "A really, _really_ good chance."

Mr. Black beamed with pride and excitement over the possibilities for Token and his friends.

Kenny slowly made his way back to center stage as Craig stepped back a bit. All together the four boys sang.

_Hell  
>Hell is for Hell<br>Hell is for Hell  
>Hell Is For Children<em>

_Hell_  
><em>Hell is for Hell<em>  
><em>Hell is for Hell<em>  
><em>Hell Is For Children<em>

_Hell Is For Children_

As soon as the song ended, the boys realized how loud the audience was cheering for them. They each grinned from ear to ear. Neither of them did not expect such a reaction with their performance. Kenny held the microphone up to his mouth again. "Thank you, very much!" He hollered into it - noticeably a tad out of breath after singing. All four boys bowed before the crowd. Stepping up to the stand, Kenny then placed the microphone back onto its cradle. He waved at the audience one last time before he followed the other boys off the stage.

"Wow, let's go congratulate them!" Stan suggested.

"Yeah!" Kyle agreed. Both he and Stan ran off towards the back of the stage.

Cartman turned to Butters, Tweek, and Kevin before they were about to run off with Stan and Kyle. The fat boy raised his index finger in a lecturing posture and shook it at them. "No, you three need to stay here and sell the rest of our Lucky Charms. Do not leave a single one unsold." He warned before running after his friends.

"Awe," Butters sulked. Kevin and Tweek stood with a disappointed look on their faces.

Kenny and Token stood just outside of the performer's tent behind the stage, mainly to keep cool from being on the hot stage. They could hear the next band already on stage playing. Craig and Clyde came out from inside the tent - each of them holding a couple of towels in one hand, and two bottles of water in the other.

Clyde walked up to Token and handed him a towel and a bottle of water. Both boys used the towel to wipe the sweat off their faces.

"Here you go Ken." Craig said, as he handed the blond the towel and bottle.

"Thanks," Kenny nodded, still sounding a little out of breathe. He took the towel and dabbed it on his forehead. Then he unscrewed the cap of the water bottle and swallowed a few mouth full of cool clear fluid.

"Kenny!" Both Kyle and Stan shouted. Several steps behind them Cartman struggled to keep up.

"Hi guys," Kenny called back, his breath sounding more calmer. "What did you think of our performance?"

"One word, _awesome_!" Kyle replied excitedly.

"Totally, dude!" Stan agreed.

"Told you guys," Token smiled smugly. Clyde and Craig smiled and nodded in agreement.

"_Kinny_, you asshole, how dare you hide your talent from us like that?" Cartman grunted, after catching his breath.

"I'm inclined to agree, dude." Kyle nodded.

"So why didn't you tell us you could sing?" Stan asked.

"Well, you never really asked." Kenny simply replied. "Besides, you guys were too busy with your lucky charms."

Before any of the boys could say any more, Mr. Black appeared from around the corner and called out, "Hey boys, come here. I want to introduce you to someone!"

"Ok, be right there, dad!" Token answered back.

"I gotta run. Catch you guys later, ok." Kenny said to his best friends before he headed off with Craig, Clyde, and Token into the performer's tent.

Cartman pondered thoughtfully as he watched Kenny and others disappear into the tent.

"Wow, you know, guys. I've been thinking. We could really start racking in the dollars if we could pose as their talent agents." He said.

Stan and Kyle paused for a moment. They both looked at each other then back at Cartman.

"Didn't we already try something like that, and failed miserably?" Kyle finally asked.

" Jesus Christ, Kyle. Stop being such a negative Nancy." Cartman sighed.


	5. Saying 'Goodbye' to South Park

_**Author's Note:**__ Hi everyone, sorry it has been a while since I update. I've been busy with some of my other projects. Please take the time to view my profile page here on and check out the links to my project "Tales of Mytherwrel". I am promoting it as an animated series and wouldn't mind more feedback on it._

**Chapter 5 - Saying 'Goodbye' to South Park**

Kenny packed his bag with great enthusiasm. He still was buzzing from the high of last night's concert. Without any question, last night just happened to be the best night of his life. Who would have guessed a talent agent sat in the audience during his performance with Craig, Clyde, and Token. When he was told he and the other boys were offered a chance to go to LA for an audition, he just couldn't believe it. Could his luck be finally changing?

As he tossed some spare underwear briefs into his duffle bag he pondered for a moment if things were moving a little too fast. What if he was forgetting something. Just then a knock on his door brought his attention away from his duffle bag. He turned with a surprised expression in his eyes.

"Who is it?" Kenny asked.

"Kenny, you're friends are here to see you." His mother responded.

Kenny paused when the door opened and Stan, Kyle, and Cartman walked in.

"There he is," Cartman applauded as he rushed up to the young blond. "There's our little star."

"Dude, we still can't get over last night. I mean, wow!" Kyle cheered with excitement.

"Yeah," Stan nodded in agreement. "It's unbelievable that in all the years we've known you that you could ever be that talented."

Kenny was sure Stan didn't mean to be hurtful with his comment, but it still stung.

"Uh, thanks guys." He muttered as he turned back to his duffle bag on his bed and continued to pack the few cloths he had.

This action did not go past his friends. They looked at each other with confusion written on their faces.

"Um, Kenny," Stan stepped up. "You planning on going somewhere?" He asked carefully. Kenny simply nodded yes.

"Dude, where to?" Kyle wondered as he to walked up to his orange clad friend.

"L.A.," Kenny responded nonchalantly.

"W-what?" Stan gasped.

"L.A.?" Kyle echoed to the shock.

"'_Kinny_!" Cartman snapped. "You can't go there, because we come to offer a better deal to you and the rest of the KCCT."

Kenny held the last shirt in his hand as he turned to his over-sized friend.

"I mean this is a deal you can't possibly pass up, and let me tell you why." Cartman pitched his voice like a salesman.

Kenny rolled his eyes. "Let's hear it." He muffled in his hooded jacket.

Cartman walked up to his poor friend and placed his chubby arm around him.

"Well _Kinny_, this is your lucky day. How would you like for me, Stan, and Kyle to manage your group the KCCT? Now, before you answer, let me tell you the great possibilities. I mean, we could take your band all the way. You will be famous. Can you picture it _Kinny_? The sky is the limit." Cartman emphasized by leading Kenny's line of vision up with his hand.

"Now, of course, we will have to figure out on a different name for your group, because KCCT is just not a cool enough." Cartman continued before Kenny could reply. "We could maybe call the band 'Cartman's Super Cool Band', or something. That and we will have to discuss on splitting the pay. I think I should get, oh, let's see... 60% of the profit? That's fair, right? Maybe we should call up Craig, Clyde, and Token right away and sit down to talk about this together. What do you think, Ken?"

Kenny reacted as if he was taking a moment to think over his friends request. "No thanks." He finally blurted before stepping away from him.

"_No thanks_...?" Cartman snapped in a form of a question. "What do you mean by _'no thanks'_? We're practically doing you a favor here! Wait, is this about the 60%? We can lower it to 55% instead."

"What fatass is trying to say is; why are you packing for L.A., Kenny?" Kyle asked in a gingerly fashion.

"Yeah dude." Added Stan.

Kenny let out a deep sigh, and said, "a talent agent was at the concert last night and told us to pack. We've been offered to try out for a record deal."

"In L.A.?" Stan's jaw dropped.

"Uh-huh." Nodded Kenny.

"Oh, well, when are you leaving?" Cartman gave a uncharacteristic worried glance at the duffle bag.

"The plane leaves in four hours." The blond replied. He turned to his bag and scrunched down his clothes so there would be some extra space for his shirt.

"So Kenny what happens if you do get a contract?" Kyle asked stricken with worry.

Kenny shrugged, "don't know." He answered honestly. "Guess we would stay in L.A."

The three friends stood quiet for a moment to digest what Kenny just said to them.

"S-so you're saying this is _goodbye_...?" Stan said more in a form of a question.

This time Kenny froze. He didn't account for the fact he might not see his friends anymore. Slowly he put the T-shirt still in his hand into his duffle bag. Kenny didn't want to say goodbye forever, just maybe for a short while. Then again... His dream of becoming a celebrity finally could come true. Why wouldn't he be able to enjoy it? As soon as Kenny turned to face his smile dropped when he noticed the sad expressions on his friends. A guilty ping hit him in the pit of his stomach. These are the same friends that he grew up with. Been on wild adventures with. They even helped him when he was at his lowest. Now he's about to just say goodbye?

"I..." Kenny's train of thought went blank. No he couldn't say goodbye, not forever. "I'm sure we can still visit sometimes, guys." He tried to sound positive, but instead he had a sadder tone in his voice.

"Awe Kenny, we're going to miss you." Kyle said trying to keep his emotions together, but seemed to be failing.

"Jew boy is right. It's going to be weird not having you around anymore." Cartman added with a stray tear running down his cheek.

"Yeah man." Stan agreed. "We are happy for you." He said trying to be more encouraging instead of sad mixed in with jealousy.

This was getting too much to bare. Kenny held out his arms wide. "I'll miss you guys too." He said as he pulled all three of them into a hug.

"Kenny? Kenny! Are you packed yet?" Yelled Mrs. McCormick from out in the hall.

"Yeah mom. Be right there!" Kenny yelled back. He then turned back to his friends. His eyes expressed that he wanted to say something to them.

"It's ok, Ken. We get it." Stan held up his hand in an understanding gesture. "You have to go now."

"We, um, should walk you to your door." Kyle offered.

"Thanks guys." Kenny sniffled as he grabbed his bag off the bed and zipped it up.

"You will call us when you get to L.A.?" Cartman asked through teary eyes.

"Sure." The young blond nodded as he slid the strap over his shoulder.

"Kenny!" Hollered his mother again.

"Coming!" The blond practically cracked his voice screaming back at her.

The four boys left the bedroom and headed towards to the living room. There Mrs. McCormick stood arguing with her husband about taking care of their two other children while she and Kenny leave for the L.A..

"You're mom is going too?" Kyle asked.

"Uh-huh," Kenny nodded. "The agent said one parent should be present to co-sign any contracts." He added.

"Ah," Stan acknowledged in understanding.

"Stuart, I'm not going to tell you twice, you are stayin' here, and you are to not drink and fight with Kevin. You know you scare Karen when you two do that." Scolded Mrs. McCormick.

"Yeah, I hear ya, you stupid bitch!" Stuart snapped back.

Kenny cleared his throat loudly so his parents could hear that he and his friends were in the room. The look in his eyes read that he was annoyed with his parents bickering.

"Oh, Kenny. There you are." His mother smiled. She picked up her own packed duffle bag and walked up to her son. "You finally ready?"

"Yup." Kenny chirped as she gave her a 'thumbs up'.

"You're goin' to do us proud, aren't ya boy?" Stuart asked.

"Stuart, just get into the truck and start her up. We need to get to the airport to meet with the other boys and their parents." His wife hissed sharply.

"Fine," he grumbled. Stuart stopped to look up at Kenny's friends. He pointed at them and asked, "are your friends joinin' us to the airport, son?"

"Well," Kenny began to reply with uncertainty.

"Of course we are." Stan answered for him.

"Yeah, I mean, you don't mind if we tag along, do you?" Kyle asked.

"We sure would hate to miss out on seeing our little buddy off on his great adventure, Mr. McCormick." Cartman said with an innocent face.

"Ok, fine. Everyone in the truck." Stuart ordered as he herded everyone out of the house.

Kenny was somewhat relived that his friends are coming along. This would certainly give him more time to say farewell them. Kenny, his siblings, mom and dad, and his three best friends all left the McCormick home and piled into the rusty pickup truck parked on the street. The four friends, and Kevin jumped in the open bed at the back end of the truck, while Karen sat in the cab with her parents.

Stuart started the ignition and drove off towards the airport.


	6. The Audition

_**Author's Note:**__ In this chapter I have borrowed the lyrics to "It's My Life" by Bon Jovi._

**Chapter 6 - The Audition**

"Are you boys ready?" Mr. Black asked with an optimistic tone.

Token, Clyde, Craig, and Kenny looked up at him with a nervous glance. Neither of them answered the lawyer, but tried to smile instead. Kenny wore the same hoodie and jeans as he did at the concert the other night upon Mr. Black's request. The hoodie's shadow covered most of the boy's face, but his blue eyes were seen clearly.

"I will go out and introduce you boys, then you can come out on stage and sing your song. Break-a-leg." Token's father said, giving the boys a 'thumbs up'.

The boys turned to each other with a petrified stare. It didn't help much that they were still a little tired after their trip on the plane. There was a delay that caused them to arrive late in the evening, but still seemed to have made it to the hotel by 8pm. After the boys got some dinner around 9pm, they were finally in bed by 10:30pm. It took a lot to drag the boys out of their beds when they received the 6:30am wakeup call. They did manage to get dressed, and have their breakfast downstairs in the hotel's restaurant before showing up at their audition before 9am. This little audition seemed more stressful then the charity concert itself. How Kenny wished he could have Cartman's confidence right about now.

"So, ah," Craig began to shake as he spoke. "Are you guys ready for this?"

"I don't know about any of you, but I'm hoping I can get through this without losing my breakfast." Clyde groaned.

"Me too," Token agreed, looking a shade lighter than usual.

"What about you, Kenny?" Craig asked. All three boys turned to look at the fourth member of their group.

The blond raised his head slightly to look up at the blue clad boy. It was evident that Kenny was just as scared as they were about this audition. His lip quivered into a half smirk.

"J-just hoping we get through this quickly." He said in a shaky voice.

"...And without further ado, I now present the KCCT." Mr. Black announced from the stage.

Kenny swallowed a lump in his throat. "Here we go," he whispered.

"Ok, boys." Steve clasped his hands together as he walked off stage towards them. "Just like we talked about. Now get out there and show them what you've got."

Mr. Black inspected each of the boys as they passed him. He nodded approvingly at Clyde, Craig, and Token, but once Kenny walked by he grabbed his hoodie and pulled it off his head.

"Hey..." The boy complained.

"Kenny, they would want to see your face while you sing, ok." Steve demanded. "Now get out there and perform like you did at the concert, if not, better."

Kenny let out a small groan. "Not too much pressure," he muttered.

Each of the boys took their positions on the stage. Clyde sat in the back behind his drum set, Token stood with his base guitar on the left side of the stage, while Craig stopped to pick up his guitar on the right side. Kenny nervously wondered to center stage in front of the microphone. He casually glanced back at each member of the band and with a single nod they were ready to begin. Again Kenny swallowed another lump down his throat and faced the audience, which included the CEO, his partners, Mrs. McCormick, Mrs. Tucker, Mrs. Black, and Mr. Donavan.

Kenny closed his eyes as the boys began to play their instruments. The poor boy inwardly counted the beats until his queue came up. He re-opened his eyes, than leaned forward into the mic, and sang:

_This ain't a song for the broken-hearted  
>No silent prayer for the faith-departed<br>_

Token, and Craig joined in with Kenny:

_I ain't gonna be just a face in the crowd  
>You're gonna hear my voice<br>When I shout it out loud_

Kenny raised his fist and punched the air twice with the drum beat. All four boys then sang:

_It's my life  
>It's now or never<br>I ain't gonna live forever  
><em>

Kenny leaned forward into the mic with power in his voice, _"I just want to live while I'm alive"_

Token, Craig, and Clyde chorused, _"It's my life"_

Kenny moved his arms and hips to the beat as he sung the next verse:

_My heart is like an open highway  
>Like Frankie said<br>I did it my way  
>I just wanna live while I'm alive<br>_

Token, Clyde, and Craig joined in with Kenny and sang, _"It's my life"_

Steven poked his head from the back stage curtain. His curiosity got him wondering if the CEO and his partners were enjoying the boys singing, but all he could make out were faceless shadows in the middle row seats. Further in the back rows sat his wife, the other two mothers, and Mr. Roger Donavan. It had been almost a year since his wife died - leaving Roger alone to care for his son, and daughter. Mr. Black had to admire him on how he was able to manage everything, arrange a babysitter for his daughter, and make it here to support Clyde in this audition.

Mr. Black returned his focus back on the stage as Kenny pulled the mic off the stand and waited for the next verse to come up. The blond then began to sing as he pointed out to the audience:

_This is for the ones who stood their ground  
>For Tommy and Gina who never backed down<br>_

Token and Craig once again joined with Kenny:

_Tomorrow's getting harder make no mistake  
>Luck ain't even lucky<br>Got to make your own breaks_

All four boys sang together:

_It's my life  
>It's now or never<br>I ain't gonna live forever  
><em>

Kenny raised the mic up closer to his face, _"I just want to live while I'm alive"_

Token, Craig, and Clyde chorused, _"It's my life"_

Kenny walked back and forth on the stage as he sang:

_My heart is like an open highway  
>Like Frankie said<br>I did it my way  
>I just wanna live while I'm alive<br>_

Again, the rest of the boys joined with Kenny, _"It's my life"_

In the audience Mrs. McCormick turned to Mrs. Tucker and Mrs. Black, then to Mr. Donavan with a smile. Each parent had the same proud expression on their faces. Kenny's mom had always been proud of her boy, but never in her sober mind did she ever expect to end up in L.A. to watch her son audition for a record deal. Without question Mrs. McCormick was sure the other mothers and Roger felt the same way as she did.

In the middle row, the CEO tapped his finger on the arm rest in his seat. He gave a slight nod to his partners that sat on either side of him. Regardless of their decision, they had to admit the boys had talent.

Craig stepped up for a guitar solo for a few cords. As soon as the 3rd verse came up, Kenny stepped forward and sang with one long breath:

_Better stand tall when they're calling you out  
>Don't bend, don't break, baby, don't back down<br>_  
>Kenny again pumped his fist in the air to the drum beat before all four of them sang together:<p>

_It's my life  
>It's now or never<br>I ain't gonna live forever  
><em>

Kenny faced the audience and sang into the mic, _"I just want to live while I'm alive"_

Token, Craig, and Clyde chorused, _"It's my life"_

Kenny moved to the beat as he sang:

_My heart is like an open highway  
>Like Frankie said<br>I did it my way  
>I just wanna live while I'm alive<br>_

As the song came to the end the four boys sang, _"It's my life"_

When the boys finished performing the only sound of clapping came directly from the moms and Roger in near the back rows. Kenny and the other boys grinned at the audience, believing they did a great job.

"Thank you, please go wait out in the lounge, and we will give you our answer in a few minutes." Came the cold tone of the CEO.

The sound of the man's voice instantly took the smiles off the boys faces. They had no idea if he and his partners even liked their playing.

"You boys can leave your instruments here. We will get them later." Mr. Black suggested as he walked out towards the boys. He then guided them off the stage and up the isle to Roger and the moms. All together they left through the doors, down the hall, and into the lounge.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

**Forty-Five Minutes Later**

The boys sat with their mothers, Mr. Donavan, and Mr. Black in a private lounge. Off to the side wall there was a table that had coffee, tea, and pop, as well as some cookies laid out on it. They did help themselves to some beverage and snacks, but their stomachs were too wound up digest much of anything.

The waiting was soon becoming too much to handle. They each wondered what would be taking the CEO so long to make a decision. Needless to say it had been the most nerve-wracking minutes of their lives. No one really said anything just in case they were to jinx their chances.

Finally the door opened and the secretary walked in.

"Mr. Reid will see you now." She said as she addressed everyone to follow her.

The Secretary guided them into the conference room. The CEO sat at one end of the long table in the middle of the room. His two partners sat on the left of him, while three of the company's lawyers sat on the right. Once they entered, it suddenly became a little overwhelming for the four boys and their parents.

With a broad smile, Mr. Reid addressed the empty seats at the other end of the table. "Have a seat please. There is much to discuss." He said politely.

As soon as everyone sat down, with Mr. Black sitting at the opposite end from the CEO.

Mr. Reid began pouring a pitcher of ice water into his glass before clearing his throat and said, "I must say I'm really impressed with how you boys sounded on stage."

"Thank you." The boys quietly said in unison.

"Yes, and as I discussed with my partners we are willing to give you a one year contract to see how well you do." The CEO continued. This drew a bright smile on not only the boy's faces, but their parents as well.

"Now we understand, Mr. Black, you are representing the boys as their lawyer." One of the partners asked.

"Yes I am." Mr. Black state proudly.

"Excellent, so now that leaves us to just go over the contracts." Mr. Reid nodded.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

**Two and a Half Hours Later...**

Token sat beside Clyde on a couch in a waiting lobby at a salon parlor. The company wanted to give the boys a bit of a makeover. Token and Clyde only needed their hair lightly trimmed and a new wardrobe, but for Kenny and Craig an entirely new makeover was in order.

Clyde wore a new brown jacket, a black sweater and black jeans. Token sported a black jacket and dark blue jeans, and a white T-shirt. Their new makeover only took thirty minutes. For the past hour the two boys sat and waited for Kenny and Craig.

Craig was the first to emerge from one of the salon rooms. His jet black hair pushed forward so the stands dangle over his eyes. He was dressed in blue jeans and a blue jean vest with a black T-Shirt. Clyde and Token both stood up to greet their newly made over friend.

"Wow, you look amazing, Craig." Clyde said, patting him on the back.

"Thanks, I like it." Craig smiled approvingly.

"I wonder if they are done with Kenny yet?" Token wondered.

Clyde was the first to notice a blond boy exiting the other room. He wore a black leather jacket, blue jeans, and a light grey T-shirt. His hair, for the first time, neatly trimmed around the edges, but spiky on the top. He was completely different, and yet Clyde could tell it was Kenny.

"Oh my _God_." Gasped the brunette.

Craig and Token both spun around and dropped their jaws as Kenny walked up to them.

"What? Too much?" Kenny asked. He felt awkward with the way the other boys just stared at him.

"Wow, they really did an amazing job on you." Craig said, finally finding his voice.

"Yeah, I don't think I have ever seen you with a hair cut before." Token pointed out.

"Thanks - I think." Kenny responded, with uncertainty.

A man walked into the salon and rolled his eyes once he saw the boys. "Great, you must be the boys I am to manage." He said with a lack of enthusiasm in his voice. "My name is Mitch Broadbent, but you can call me Mitch. I'm to take you now to your first photo shoot. Are you boys ready?" He asked.

The four boys gave each other a quick glance before facing at the man.

"Sure, I guess." Craig shrugged.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Three hours later the boys walked out of photography studio, each of them feeling like marionette puppets. School pictures were never as demanding as what they had just experienced. They met up with their parents outside and instantly noticed something slightly different about them. Apparently while the boys were getting a makeover and having their pictures taken the parents went shopping, mainly to kill time, even Kenny's mom wore some new clothes and her hair was combed back. Both Mrs. McCormick and Kenny looked each other over with amazement. The entire day became so surreal for them.

Driving to their next destination in a limo made the boys and their parents feel more important. From what they were told they were now heading to the home they are going to stay in during their yearlong contract. They sat with the man that was contacted to be their manager, Mitch.

"How was your first day boys?" He asked, trying to sound like he enjoyed his job.

"A bit overwhelming." Clyde replied honestly.

The man chuckled. "I'm sure you'll get used to it."

"Mr. Broadbent I just want to thank you and your company for giving our boys this chance." Mrs McCormick cooed.

"Please, call me Mitch, and I'm obligated to manage this group under the company's contract." He explained.

The limo pulled up into a driveway. The driver stopped to open an iron gate with a remote control. Once the gate opened the driver rode through and stopped in front of a mansion. The Spanish style home featured a red-tile roof, stucco walls, and an asymmetrical front with small and large irregularly placed windows. The door had decorative carving on it, and was painted a dark burgundy color.

"Wow, this place is bigger than yours Token." Craig pointed out.

"No kidding." Token agreed with a nod.

Everyone stepped out of the limo to grab their luggage from the trunk. The driver hand the McCormick s their duffle bags, which they grabbed while their eyes did not leave the home that they would be staying in. They looked at each other believing that they were dreaming.

"Well, shall we head inside and I'll show you around a bit?" Mitch asked.

"Yes please," Mrs. Tucker answered politely.

Mitch unlocked the door with the key and ushered everyone inside while the driver waited by the limo.

The interior showed smooth white plaster wall surfaces contrast with heavy wrought-iron ornamentation around windows and doors. All around stood distinctively carved columns, and patterned tile floor. The stairway treatments had a touch of Andalusia to it.

Mr. Broadbent guided the boys and their parents upstairs and showed them to their rooms. Each of the boys got a room all to themselves down one corridor, while the parents got the rooms at the other end. The manager then took them back downstairs to show them the kitchen, the living room, and the entertainment room. The boys started jumping with excitement once they noticed the 3D TV with surround sound, and a Xbox 360 that had a few games in 3D with it. Lastly, Mitch showed them the back yard with the pool, again, that got the four boys looking forward to the good times they would have staying at this home.

"That should do it for now. I must get going. However, I shall be back here first thing in the morning to get you boys ready for your first practice and additional singing lessons. Remember to set your alarms for five O'clock." Mitch waved 'bye' before heading to the front door.

"Thank you, Mitch. We will look forward to it." Mr. Black said.

"I'm so glad," he muttered sarcastically as he closed the door behind him. "_KCCT_, sounds like a God-Damned radio station."

"Wait," Kenny blinked as if something just dawned on him. "Did he say _five_...in the _morning_?"

"Yup." Craig simply replied.

"Shit."


	7. In the Spotlight

**Author's note:** _The lyrics of the song "Fame". Version one: by Irene Cara. And version two: by Naturi Naughton are combined, and borrowed for this chapter._

**Chapter 7 - In the Spotlight**

The boys felt excited to be one of the performers at the Monte Carlo Resort, west side of the Las Vegas strip. It would be something very different from their usual gigs at Knotts Berry Farm and a few other smaller shows.

Back stage, the four boys were having a challenging time trying not to be trampled by scantily clad women dancers. Finally, it was Clyde and Kenny's turn to have their hair done. The hairdressers were half done when one of the dancers rushed up to them.

"Excuse me," she said as she leaned forward between the two boys to the table behind them. As she did this, she had unintentionally exposed her well-shaped cleavage to Kenny and Clyde.

Kenny had to clasp his hand together in order to control his temptation to reach up and grab the dancer's breast. He bit down on his lower lip while his eyes did not leave the woman's chest. Meanwhile, Clyde sat blushing so much that he began to look like a tomato. The brunette boy could not stop starring at the bouncy orbs either.

The woman grabbed hold of a tube of lipstick and pulled back. She glanced down at the two boys that looked up at her with redden cheeks and goofy grins on their faces.

"Awe, you boys are so cute." She purred. Before she turned away, the dancer gave Kenny and Clyde a pat on the head. She then walked back to the other end of the dressing room where the rest of the dancers prepared for their gig.

Kenny and Clyde watched the woman as she walked away. Their eyes fixed on how her tail feathers swayed back and forth from her costume. Clyde shook his head and snapped himself back to reality.

"_Wow_ that totally made my night." He muttered, still grinning.

"Yeah, me _too_." Kenny sighed contently.

The two boys glanced at each other just before bursting into a fit of giggles.

Craig and Token zigzagged through the crowd of performers to their friend. The two boys stop to stare at them snickering while the hairdressers finish spraying hairspray on their heads. Feeling they have missed an amusing joke, Craig and Token glance at each other before returning their attention to their band mates.

"What's so funny?" Craig asked.

"Yeah," Token added.

"Ah," Kenny found himself a loss for words. He turned to Clyde for some assistance to explain the humor they have been enjoying.

"Oh. Nothing." Clyde answered shrugged, while still snickering.

"Yeah, nothing." Kenny giggled as he attempted to compose himself.

Mitch poked his head in the dressing room, unfazed by the half naked women, and spotted the boys. 'KCCT, you're up in two minutes!' He hollered through the noisy room.

"Alright, we'll be right there!" Token replied.

Another female dancer stumbled between the four boys. She almost did not realize her tail feathers were tearing off. The woman spun around and quickly bent over to pick up her costume, which in a result giving the boys a show that left them all blushing, and Kenny and Clyde in a fit of giggles again.

Mitch turned away with a grumble, "I've got to find a way to manage a real professional band. These amateurs are starting to drive me insane."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

The boys prepared themselves on stage in time for the curtains to open up. The spotlights were off; some of the lights lit up behind them gave the audience a silhouette of their presence.

Craig, Token, and Clyde start playing their instruments for a good 37 seconds, but it was not until Kenny lifted the microphone to his face and began to sing the spotlights shone on them.

_Baby look at me  
>And tell me what you see<br>You ain't seen the best of me yet  
>Give me time I'll make you forget the rest<em>

_I got more in me  
>And you can set it free<br>I can catch the moon in my hands  
>Don't you know who I am<em>

_Remember my name_

Clyde, Token, and Craig sang, _"Fame"_ as Kenny took a breath.

Kenny took a step forward and continued to sing the chorus,

_I'm gonna live forever  
>I'm gonna learn how to fly<br>High_

_I feel it coming together  
>People will see me and cry<br>_

Again, Clyde, Token, and Craig sang, _"Fame"_, while Kenny continued.

_I'm gonna make it to heaven  
>Light up the sky like a flame<br>Fame_

_I'm gonna live forever  
>Baby remember my name<em> 

While Kenny took another breath, the three boys repeated:

_Remember  
>Remember<br>Remember  
>Remember<br>Remember  
>Remember<br>Remember  
>Remember<br>_  
>The manager of the theater stood back stage as he watched the boys perform. He turned to Mitch, whom seemed more interested checking emails on his iPhone rather than what was going on with the band he was managing.<p>

"These boys are pretty good." The theater manager exclaimed.

"Huh?" Mitch forced his eyes away from his phone to look up at the manager. "Well to be honest they are a little wet behind the ears," He paused to give an aspirated sigh. "But I guess they have _some_ potential."

The manager raised his eyebrow with a curious gaze over at Mitch. "You don't seem to be very supportive of your band."

"Well, to be honest I wanted to manage a different band, but instead I ended up assigned to babysit a young group of amateurs."

The two men were silent for a moment as they both watched the boys on stage. Just then, someone in the audience hollered to someone else that seemed to have temporarily distracted Craig, which in a result caused him to miss a note on his guitar. The other boys noticed it as well; a mistake that nearly screwed them up for the rest of the song.

"As I said, _amateurs_." Mitch growled sorely.

Kenny turned his head swiftly to glance back at Craig the second he had hit the sour note on his guitar. The raven-haired boy immediately gave him and the rest of the band an apologetic expression written on his face. Not wanting to let this screw up the rest of their performance, Kenny continued on to the next verse. He, however, struggled to maintain focus for the first few lines.

_Baby hold me tight  
>Cause you can make it right<br>You can shoot me straight to the top  
>Give me love and take all I've got to give<em>

_Baby I'll be tough  
>Too much is not enough<br>I'll grab your heart till it breaks  
>Ooo I got what it takes<br>_

All four boys joined in together with the second chorus.

_Fame  
>I'm gonna live forever<br>I'm gonna learn how to fly  
>High<em>

_I feel it coming together  
>People will see me and cry<br>Fame_

_I'm gonna make it to heaven  
>Light up the sky like a flame<br>Fame_

_I'm gonna live forever  
>Baby remember my name<em> 

Clyde, Token, and Craig, kept repeating _"Remember"_ for eight times, and Kenny would repeat, _"Remember my name"_ three times before they all paused for a moment of silence just before Kenny let in a deep breath and sang out an octave higher sound in his voice.

_"Ooooohhhhhh! Remember my name!"_

Once again, all four boys started playing their instruments and sang the last chorus.

_Fame  
>I'm gonna live forever<br>I'm gonna learn how to fly  
>High<em>

_I feel it coming together  
>People will see me and cry<br>Fame_

_I'm gonna make it to heaven  
>Light up the sky like a flame<br>Fame_

_I'm gonna live forever  
>Baby remember my name<em>

_Remember  
>Remember<br>Remember  
>Remember<br>Remember  
>Remember<br>Remember  
>Remember<br>_  
>Kenny finished the song by singing, <em>"Remember my name."<em> The spotlights turned off and their silhouettes were the only thing visible to the audience just before the curtains closed.

The boys realized they had pulled it off when they heard the crowd cheering.

Once the boys left the stage they all headed back into the dressing room. Less people were running around since most of the performers were upstairs, on either stage or back stage waiting for their number to come up.

"I'm sorry about what happened on stage guys. I really messed up." Craig sorely admitted.

"It ok Craig, we all had your back out there." Kenny said as he patted his friend on the back. He smiled warmly to show his genuine support. Craig rewarded the blonde boy with a grateful grin.

"'You know that is really great, seriously." Mitch growled sarcastically as he followed them into the dressing room. "For a brief moment I thought I was managing a rock band, and not a Micky Mouse daycare."

"We're sorry." Clyde spoke. "We'll do better next time."

"Next time does not make up for the blunder you four caused just now on stage! That was just embarrassing! And it was not even the first time I noticed you boys screwing up!" The man screamed. "Craig! You need to be more focused, and the rest of you need to learn to keep playing and not draw attention to mistakes that someone makes when you are performing!"

"Isn't that what we did do?" Token asked. He was feeling offended with Mitch's words.

"I don't want to hear excuses; I want to see you start playing more professionally!" Mitch growled in frustration. He started to run his hand through his dark hair, nearly pulling out a few stands with the force he was using.

The boys had no idea how to react to the man's outburst. They just stood there looking at each other with their mouths hung open.

"Just get your things. I'll meet you by the exit." Mitch finally said. He felt too flustered to say anything else. The band's manager quickly turned before leaving.

For a moment, the boys were too stunned to speak. Was it really a big deal to have missed one note on stage, they thought.

"You know he kind of reminds me of Cartman." Kenny raised his eyebrow as he pondered the idea.

Clyde snickered. "Yeah, a taller, skinnier version."

The four boys had a good laugh before they grabbed their bags and left the dressing room.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

For the past week and a half, the boys went to the after parties to each performance they attended. It would seem that at almost every party Token, Craig, and Clyde would end up walking aimlessly around, searching for their fourth member of the group, Kenny. Somehow, within minutes of being at the third party of the week, they have managed to lose Kenny once again. For about thirty minutes they have searched the buffet table, desert table, even took a gamble and tried seeing if he was at alcohol bar, knowing his family history and all. Yet the boys were having no luck. However, they did spot their mothers sipping some wine near the balcony. Feeling a little frustrated, the boys headed out to hallway to get some air and think of where Kenny had gotten too. Just as they were about to brainstorm some ideas on how to find Kenny, Token spotted him kissing a young blond girl that obviously looked to be twelve or thirteen years old.

"There he is." The dark boy pointed out.

Craig dropped his jaw in shock. "You've got to be kidding me." He muttered.

"How does he do that?" Clyde whined. "She has to be at least two, maybe three years older than him."

"Don't know, don't care." Craig grumbled. "We better get him before our moms and Mitch catches him like this."

"Yo, Ken!" Token hollered, cupping his mouth with his hands.

Kenny pulled back from the girl's face reluctantly, and without breath. "Wow," he gasped.

"Kenny!" Craig shouted. Kenny turned his head in a dreamy state, and a goofy grin on his face.

"Oh hey guys." The blond boy said still catching his breath. "Come here I want to introduce you to, um, _ah..._" He fought to remember the young pre-teen's name, but for some reason it escaped him. Kenny started to snap his fingers in hopes that would help his memory click.

"Candy." The girl filled in. She sounded slightly fazed that he could not remember her name.

Kenny smiled at her, "Yes you are," he purred.

"Oh brother," Craig sighed as he rolled his eyes skyward.

"Kenny we need to get going. Mitch is not in the best of moods right now and our moms are waiting for us back inside." Token explained.

This time Kenny rolled his eyes. "Is Mitch _ever_ going to get that pole out of his ass?"

Both Candy and Clyde stifle his giggles.

"As much as I want to agree with you on that one, we really do need to go now." Craig said with a half grin.

"Fine," Kenny said with a huff. He turned to Candy and gave her an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, I have to go now."

"I understand," the girl sighed with regret. She pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it to him. "Here call me sometime."

"I will." Kenny cooed. He happily placed the piece of paper in the inner pocket of his leather jacket and leapt off the table the two of them were sitting on. Kenny waved bye to Candy and walked with the others back to the party.

"Awe, guys I think I'm in _love_," Kenny swooned as they turned the corner of the hallway.

"Again?" Token cocked an eyebrow at the blond boy. "Dude, that has to be the third girl this week you _'fell in love'_ with."

"Yeah, not to mention an _older_ girl. How do you do that? You have to tell me your secret." Clyde pleaded desperately.

"Oh, but I mean it this time." Kenny swayed his head to one side, unintentionally ignoring Clyde's plea. "Just thinking of her name, _Candy_..."

The other boys could not help but to start laughing at Kenny at this point.

Craig pulled out a tissue from his pocket and handed it to Kenny. "Here you have lipstick on your face. Better use this to clean yourself up before we meet with Mitch and our moms."

"Huh? Oh, thanks." Kenny muttered as he accepted the tissue and started wiping his mouth and cheeks.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"It's a shame that Roger had to leave to get back home. He's missing out on these fabulous parties." Mrs. Black chimed. She held up her glass of wine to Mrs. Tucker and Mrs. McCormick. The three of them gently tapped their glasses together and took a sip.

"Well, he sure can't keep his store closed, _and_ pay the babysitter during this year-long contract." Mrs. Tucker said after sipping the wine.

"Suppose that is true." Linda hummed.

Mrs. McCormick pulled the glass away from her lips as she savored the unfamiliar flavor sliding down her throat. "Wow, I haven't had this sort of wine before."

"This is a Merlot, Mrs. McCormick." Mrs. Tucker answered.

"What kind of wine have you tried before? A Gewurztraminer? Chardonnay? Or how about Riesling?" Linda asked the young mother.

"What? Oh no, none of that rich stuff. Just the kind you buy in a box at the grocery store. We would usually only buy that sort of thing on special occasions." The redheaded woman explained before she turned to Mrs. Tucker. "And please, Nancy, call me Carol."

"Alright," Nancy nodded.

"I take it all of this must be a whole new experience then for both you and Kenny." Linda asked.

"Oh yes. It surely is. In fact - " Mrs. McCormick stopped in mid-sentence as soon as she caught sight of her son accepting a half glass of wine from one of the waiters, and sampling a sip from it.

"KENNY!" She bellowed from across the room. Kenny suddenly looked up at her as if he was a deer caught in headlights.

"Oh crap," he muttered.


	8. Mother and Son Moments

**Author's Note:** _The lyrics to a Dutch Lullaby called, "Sleep Little Child Sleep" ('Slaap kindje slaap', in Dutch) is borrowed for this chapter._

**Chapter 8 - Mother and Son Moments**

"Mom, seriously you're over reacting! It was only a sip of wine." Kenny stated in a desperate tone. He nearly lost his footing as his mother pulled his arm up the stairs.

"I don't care if it was just a sip; you are way too young to be drinkin' any kind of booze!" Carol interjected as she roughly dragged Kenny into his room.

"Oh like you were much better at my age!" The blond child retorted angrily. He managed to yank his arm away from his mother's grip, and rubbed his sore wrist.

"What I did in my youth should not compare on how you've been behavin' the last few weeks at them parties, especially tonight!" His mother leaned forward with an accusing finger.

"Well, at least I don't plan on becoming stupid drunk when I'm a teenager, and getting myself _pregnant_! Not just one time, but two times!" Kenny spat back. He held his hand up in the air, and counted how many of her teenage pregnancies she had with his fingers. "I think Karen was the only one you didn't get drunk before you got pregnant with her."

"Kenny I have just about heard enough out of you!" The young twenty-seven year old mother threatened. She clearly showed how upset she was becoming.

"What, you don't like hearing the truth?" Kenny asked with his arms crossed. "You should be used to that kind of reputation back home."

"That's not fair, you know I'm tryin'. Besides, I've cut back a lot on my drinking since coming out here to L.A. I only had a few glasses of wine tonight." She argued.

"Are you sure it wasn't a few bottles?" Her son teased.

"Shut up!" Carol cried.

"Oh real good come back, mom! Did you think that up yourself?" Kenny snorted.

"Listen here you lil' shit!"

"No! _You_ listen, mom!" Kenny interrupted. "_**Fuck you!**_" He screamed at the top of his lungs.

"That does it! You're grounded!" His mother spat.

"_Ha!_ Can't ground me! You never could! Besides, I'm the only one in this poor excuse of a family that's making _any_ money now!" The young McCormick shouted.

Carol gasped loudly. She stared in disbelief at her son. This was the first time he had ever spoken to her like this. Yet there was defiantly some truth to his words as well.

"Just get the _**Fuck**_ out of my room!" Kenny ordered once he realized he had won and there was nothing else to add to this conversation.

Speechless, Carol backed out and started to shut the door slowly. From the corner of her eye, she noticed the other moms and the boys standing with shocked expressions on their faces down the hall. Feeling a little embarrassed the fiery redhead wisps past them and down the stairs.

"I better go talk to her." Mrs. Tucker offered just before following Carol down the stairs.

"Uh, ok boys let's, um," Linda paused in the middle of her sentence when Clyde abruptly ran into his room and slammed the door shut. She stared at the door confused briefly before continuing. "...get ready for bed. You have another early start tomorrow." She finished saying.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Kenny woke up to a familiar sound of someone crying. At first, he thought he was hearing Karen's sobs, but quickly realized that the bed he slept in was excessively cozy to be the lumpy one back home. He opened his eyes and quickly saw the time on his alarm clock, which read eleven forty-two before drifting his gaze at the door to the hallway. More certain that someone was indeed crying, Kenny crawled out of his bed to go investigate. Before he reached for the doorknob, he let out a big yawn and scratched his belly under his new orange pajama top. As soon as he opened the door, he realized he was not the only one to have heard crying. Kenny, Token, and Craig give each other a curious look before turning to Clyde's door.

"Clyde?" Craig whispered. He led the others into the brunette boy's room.

"Hey man, what's wrong?" Token asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry guys. Did I wake you?" Clyde sniffled as he sat up on his bed.

"Yeah, sorta." Kenny yawned once more, while rubbing some sleep from his eye. "Why are you crying?"

Clyde tried to sniffle back some of his tears with little success. "I-miss-my-mo-omm-ieeee!" He wailed in between breathes.

The three boys paused briefly. Each of them turned to each other as if someone had an answer to why Clyde was behaving this way.

"Uh, you do realize your mom's been gone almost a year, right?" Craig asked bluntly.

"Yeah, but the last couple of weeks I have been kind of missing her a lot, especially when I notice you guys talking to your moms." Clyde explained.

"Ok. I see why that could make you miss your mom, but why would that cause you to start crying now?" Token asked, wishing for there to be a point to all of this.

"I guess hearing Kenny and his mom scream at each other made me think of her more." Clyde sniffed again.

"What? Really...?" Kenny gave him a bewildered look.

"I don't think it was right that you two yelled at each other like that." Clyde said while whipping away some more tears.

"Oh that," Kenny let out a forced laugh. "Don't worry about it. My family talks like that all the time. It's normal." He shrugged.

"It's _**not**_ normal!" Clyde snapped. The tone in his voice stunned the other boys. They looked up at him with disbelief.

"You should never talk to your mom like that!" He continued angrily.

"Awe, gee." Taken aback, Kenny starts scratching the back of his head in thought. "Guess when you grow up with parents that fight as much as mine did, I, uh... never thought much of it until just now." He sighed in defeat before he concluded on what to say. "Y-you're right, I'm sorry."

"I'm not the one you should apologise to." Clyde said seriously, crossing his arms with emphasis.

"Alright, I'll apologise to my mom first thing in the morning, after band practice. I promise." The blonde boy raised one hand up and the other over his heart in a 'scout's honor' pose.

"Good, because you should always be nice to your mom," The chubby brunette boy nodded. "Even if she is mad at you for something you did wrong. Because, if you don't she might end up dead one day. It might be an accident, and it might be something you did to cause that accident - like leaving the toilet seat up when she continuously told you not to leave it up..." Clyde choked in the middle of his rambling when his emotion got too much to bear. As he began to cry again, he pulled his knees up to his chest to cover his face behind them. "It's not fair!" He wailed.

"Awe, Clyde." Kenny could not help but to feel sad for the boy. Being that he has had more experience than anyone he knew when it came to death, he felt he should say something. "I know the way your mom died was not fair, but you should really try remembering your mom based on the times that made you feel happy, and not for things you were yelled for when she was alive." He suggested. "Try to think. When did you and your mom ever spend time together that was, I don't know, joyful?"

Clyde raised his head and looked at the blond boy. He thought about what he said for a moment. A small, soft smile slowly formed on his lips. He whipped away the last remaining tears before he finally said, "she used to sing a Dutch lullaby to me when I was younger."

"Really? How did it go?" Token asked encouragingly.

Clyde thought on how the song went then cleared his throat. He closed his eyes and remembered being in his old room when he was six. The image of his mother became clear when she sat down on the bed beside him to tuck him in under the sheets. He remembered how her soft voice chimed as she sang the words. With a deep breath, Clyde sang as if he were singing a duet with his mom.

_Slaap kindje slaap_

_Daar buiten loopt een schaap,  
>Een schaap met witte voetjes,<br>Die drinkt zijn melk zo zoetjes;  
>Slaap kindje slaap<br>Daar buiten loopt een schaap,_

_Slaap kindje slaap  
>Daar buiten loopt een schaap,<em>

_Een schaap met witte voetjes,_

_Die drinkt zijn melk zo zoetjes;_

_Slaap kindje slaap_

_Daar buiten loopt een schaap,_

_Slaap kindje slaap_

_Daar buiten loopt een schaap,_

__Once he finished the melody, Clyde reopened his eyes to see his friends staring up at him. The expressions on their faces were unclear. He was not sure if they had liked the song or thought it was just downright stupid.

Finally, Token broke the silence by taking in a deep breath. "Wow," he said with an exhale.

"Yeah, wow." Craig nodded his head.

"That is a very pretty song." Kenny commented.

Clyde blushed slightly through some fresh tears. "Thanks." He said quietly. "I still miss her a lot though."

Kenny gave him a sad smile. "I don't think a pain like that goes away anytime fast. The best thing is to take it a day at a time, I guess. Death is a natural part of life and we must accept it, but not to forget the ones that leave us either."

"Gee, Ken. What makes you such an expert on death?" Craig asked suspiciously.

Kenny could not help but to let out a small chuckle at the irony of the question.

"I-ah," he quickly thought up an excuse before answering, "read a book on it at the public library once."

"You go to the library?" Token remarked. It was clear that he did not believe his blond friend.

"When I am not hanging out with Stan, Kyle, and the fatass, sure." Kenny shrugged. "That and all the things, like singing for example, I learned by borrowing books and 'how to' CD's from the library."

"I'm surprised you can sit down long enough to read anything." Clyde joked.

"No kidding. Trying to keep tabs on you at the parties is nearly impossible." Token snickered.

"I say the next party we attend, we should put you on a leash." Craig suggested.

"Yeah," Token nodded in agreement.

Kenny found the boys comment funny and started to chuckle.

"What? You think we're kidding?" Craig cocked his eyebrow to the blond boy.

"Awe, you guys are no fun. I'm going back to bed. See you all in the morning. Hope you feel better soon, Clyde." Kenny said before leaving Clyde's room to head back to his.

"That's if we can get him out of the bed," Craig whispered once Kenny was out of earshot. Clyde and Token joined him in a light laugh.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

The boys returned from their morning practice and headed to the dining hall to have breakfast with their moms.

"How was practice boys?" Nancy chirped.

"It was fine, mom." Craig answered with a tired tone in his nasally voice.

"Don't forget the tutor is coming at nine o'clock for your school lessons. You have an hour and fifteen minutes to finish breakfast and brush your teeth." Linda reminded them. The boys all replied with a groan.

Carol walked in the dining hall from the kitchen with seven sets of cutlery in her hands. "Breakfast is ready." She said, not looking up at them. "Best be gettin' It while it's hot."

Clyde cleared his throat and jabbed Kenny roughly in the ribs.

"Ow, dude." Kenny complained.

With his eyes, Clyde glanced up towards Carol McCormick and back at Kenny in hopes to trigger his memory of what they had discussed last night. Kenny gave an exasperated sigh knowing what his friend meant with his eye movements.

"Mom," Kenny spoke in a barely audible voice. Apparently, it was just loud enough for his mom to hear. She turned to him before she was able to place the last fork on the table.

"Yes Kenny?" Her voice sounded sad. Kenny instantly noticed hurt in her eyes and a pain of guilt hit him in the pit of his stomach.

"You think we could go outside to talk for a bit?" He suggested, glancing down at the floor.

Carol paused. She turned her head over to Nancy. The blond woman gave her an encouraging nod to go ahead.

"Alright," Mrs. McCormack said as she placed the last fork down on the table.

She and Kenny walked out through the veranda doors and sat on a bench by the pool. The morning sun felt warm on the faces. Both of them were silent for several seconds before Kenny cleared his throat.

"I-I just wanted to apologize for what I said last night. It, uh, was wrong of me to yell at you like that. I'm sorry." He said as he fiddled with his fingers nervously.

Carol sat quietly for a moment as she digested her son's words. Slowly she smiled and said, "thank you, Kenny." She too fidgeted with her fingers before adding. "I s'pose I should apologize too. You know, for the way I was back home. I tried hard to be the mother you and your brother and sister needed, but I," Carol stopped for a second to find the right words to explain herself. "I was weak." Again, she took in a deep breath and concluded, "I should have been more responsible."

"Mom, I..." Kenny stopped mid-sentence as soon as Carol reached over to stroke his cheek.

"You're my angel, Kenny. I know you were brought to me for a reason, and I thank God everyday to have you in my life."

"Awe, geez." The young boy rolled his eyes and shook his head with a frown. "I'm no angle mom."

"Maybe you are, and maybe you're not." She shrugged. "Since I intend to start raisin' you right from now on, and I really don't want you to become like them former child stars I read about, I decided to still ground you for your behavior last night." She stated firmly.

"And how do you suppose that'll work?" Kenny asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, obviously I cannot send you to your room or make you stay in when you are playing at them shows, but on your days off I can tell you _no_ video games for two weeks."

"What?!" Kenny looked up at her in disbelief. "No way! That's not fair!"

"I happen to think that _is_ fair." Carol said smugly.

Kenny pressed his lips together and gave a frustrated sigh through his nose. "Fine," he hissed through gritted teeth. "But maybe you could bring it down to just one week if I behave myself?" He looked up at her with a hopeful glint in his eye.

"I don't think so. Two weeks and there will be no debatin' it."

"Alright, alright. You win." He growled, throwing up his hands in the air.

"Now that we got that outta the way, why don't we go back inside and have breakfast before your home-schoolin' begins?"

"Sure." Kenny gave a defeated sigh before he leapt off the bench he and his mom sat on.

The two of them walked back inside and Mrs. Tucker noticed the slightly disappointed look on Kenny's face and a much lighter smile on Mrs. McCormack's. Nancy smiled back at her with a nod.

Carol let Kenny go into the dining hall first before she leaned closer to Craig's mother, and whispered, "Thanks for the advice."

"No worries." She replied before the two of them continued into the dining hall.


	9. Facts and Rumours

Author's Note: I wish to thank you all for your patience as I have been busy, and updates are slow for this story. As a treat, I am posting chapter 9 and 10 at the same time...enjoy :)

**Chapter 9 - Facts and Rumours**

It has been six months since Kenny, Clyde, Craig, and Token left South Park for L.A. Many students in the fourth grade were missing them, especially Stan, Kyle, and even Cartman. Sure, there have been a few iChat conversations on the computer, but ever since Kenny and the others started performing at more shows the boys barely received a single email from him.

Once the recess bell rang, the school doors swung open making way for the many students rushing outside. Some raced for the swing set, while a small group heads for the merry-go-round, a few younger kids jump into the sand box, and others grabbed the school sports balls before heading to either the basketball court or the fields.

Stan, Kyle, and Cartman along with Tweek, Kevin, and Butters managed to score a basketball from the ball cart and immediately started to shoot some hoops. However, the boys' minds were not entirely on playing the game.

"So, have any of you heard from Craig, Clyde, or Token lately?" Stan asked to the group, but mainly to Kevin and Tweek.

"Well, _Ach!_ No." Tweek said with a twitch. "How about Kenny? Heard from him?" He asked before Butters tossed him the ball.

"Not really." Kyle shrugged. "Not after he was _grounded_ last month."

"Which was kind of funny, actually." Stan snickered.

"Yeah," Kyle joined him with a good chuckle. "I don't think he was ever grounded before in his life."

"Gee, I forgot why he was grounded." Butters wondered.

"I don't know," Stan shrugged. "Something about being out of control at some party, I think."

"Tweek, shoot the ball already!" Cartman demanded, addressing the hoop.

"_Ach!_ Too much pressure!" Tweek cried before he desperately tossed the ball to Kevin.

Kevin caught the ball and dribbled it a few times before taking a shot. The ball bounced off the rim. As it fell towards the ground Kyle reached up to caught the rebound. He fired a shot and got nothing but the net.

"Sweet," he cooed.

"Gosh, I sure do hope they are doin' alright and not gettin' into any serious trouble or anything." Butters pondered while rubbing his knuckles together.

"I'm sure they're fine, Butters." Stan assured the innocent blond boy. "Remember their moms are out there with them."

"Well, it has been a long time since we've heard from them." Eric Cartman reminded everyone.

"Usually I hear from Clyde almost every week, but the last few weeks or so I stopped getting emails from him. Last time I talked to him they were going to make an appearance at a sci-fi exhibition, which made me so jealous." Kevin explained.

"Nobody cares, Kevin." Cartman sighed.

The boys did not notice a strange man walking up to them, until he spoke. "Excuse me..." He said. Once the boys turned to face him, he smiled politely and continued. "Hi there, my name is Jeff Walker. I'm a reporter for the National Examiner, and I was wondering if I could interview you boys." He asked.

"What for?" Stan asked suspiciously.

"Well, I couldn't help but to over hear you are friends with the band KCCT, and I thought you might want to share some stories about them." Mr. Walker inquired as he prepared his voice recorder in his hand.

"Oh-oh, no." Stan instantly waved the man off. "I'm not getting involved with this."

"Yeah." Kyle nodded in agreement. "You are talking about us betraying our friends' trust, and we will not do that."

The rest of the boys nodded with Kyle and Stan. Almost simultaneously, the boys all turned away to head back into the school.

"Wait!" Jeff called out desperately. "I'll pay you!"

Cartman stopped dead in his tracks. He casually backed up closer to the reporter.

"How much are you offering?" The fat little boy asked in a quiet voice so only the man could hear him.

"Hundred and twenty dollars," Mr. Walker replied in the same quiet voice.

"Have you ever been to TGI Fridays?" Cartman smiled up at him.

Jeff Walker returned the same knowing smile.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

It was not long before the time showed it to be three o'clock in L.A. The boys just finished their home school session with the tutor. The second she left Kenny, Clyde, Craig, and Token immediately changed into their swimming trunks, grabbed their Water Warriors Steady Stream 2, and ran out into the back yard.

Their mothers had already been by the pool when the boys threw the sliding door open and chased each other with the water guns.

"You guys are so toast!" Clyde threatened playfully as he took aim and fired with a stream of water at the other three boys.

"Not this time, Clyde!" Craig taunted. He managed to duck before the water hit him.

Clyde did not pay attention to his surroundings as Token snuck around and soaked him from behind.

"Gotcha," the dark skinned boy chuckled.

"You're next, Token." Kenny promised once he took aim.

Token noticed Kenny just in time and quickly moved out of the way. Just as Kenny fired his water gun, Mrs. McCormick stood up from the lawn chair she sat in. As she turned, Kenny's shot splashed her on the chest.

The redheaded woman gasped loudly as the cold water soaked through her white top. She felt blessed that she was wearing her bikini top underneath otherwise; it might have been an embarrassing scene. Carol looked up and glared at her son that stood with a stunned expression on his face. He was still holding his weapon in his hands.

"Kenny!" She screamed so loud it made everyone in the back yard jump.

"Mom, I'm sorry!" He quickly apologized with his hand in a surrendering posture. Once he realized it was not going to do him any good, Kenny dropped his water gun and prepared to run.

Carol lunged at him, but her son moved faster by jumping out of arm's reach and sprinted as fast as he could to other end of the yard. His mother showed her speed as she started to catch up to him.

"Run Kenny, run!" Token hollered in laughter.

Nancy and Linda sat and watched the young mother chase her son around the yard with amusement.

"You know, I'm really impressed on how fast Carol can run." Mrs. Black commented.

"Guess when you are a mother of three kids, you need to be fast." Mrs. Tucker chuckled with a nasally voice.

Craig seemed to be the only one to hear the phone ringing by the veranda door, so he quickly ran over to pick it up.

"Hello," he said into the speaking end.

"Alright Mrs. McCormick!" Clyde cheered once Carol finally caught Kenny the second he slipped on the grass.

"Hey Ken, it's for you!" Craig called out with the cordless phone held high above his head.

"I'm a little busy right now, Craig. Could you please take a message?" Kenny replied while his mother held him over her shoulder and carried him towards the pool.

Craig was about to speak to the caller when he saw that Carol tossed Kenny into the pool. As the blond boy was being hurdled into the air he let out a girlish scream, which made everyone laugh, including Craig. Kenny landed in the water with a loud splat.

Kenny swam to the edge of the pool and crawled out of the water groaning.

"Mom that hurt!" He complained.

"Awe, I'm sorry baby. Here." She replied as she handed him a towel to dry off.

"Are you ok, Ken?" Mrs. Black asked with a hint of concern.

Kenny shook out some water out of his ear and smiled before answering, "Yeah, I'll live."

"Kenny, I think you should take this. It's Stan." Craig insisted, handing him the phone. "He says it's an emergency."

Kenny let out an exasperated sigh before accepting the phone. "Hey Stan. Look, I'm sorry for not returning your emails the last few weeks. We've been so busy, and - " Kenny paused to listen to his friend explain something. "What? The Insider? Are you sure?" He looked at Craig and the others before walking towards the entertainment room. The other boys followed. Kenny grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. He started to switch to the channel that the Insider aired.

"What's going?" Clyde asked.

"Ok, I'm on the channel, and yes, the show is on..." Kenny said into the phone.

_"...We show the most popular resorts that the hottest celebrities go to. That story is less than ten minutes away, but now, there is a young band here that came from a small town in Colorado that calls themselves the KCCT. The name itself is actually the first initials of each of their names, Kenny, Craig, Clyde, and Token. The last couple of months they have been making a slow rise to the top of the music charts with their successful performances and record sales during their public appearances mostly in theme parks and other social gatherings. Only ten years old, these boys have already had an interesting past, especially with their lead singer, Kenny McCormick. Not too long ago before being recognized by a talent agent, Kenny was addicted to 'Cheesing' and sniffing paint."_ A reporter explained on the TV.

"WHAT?" Kenny spat. The other boys dropped their jaws in shock. "Stan, thanks for the heads up, dude, but I gotta go." Kenny finally spoke into the phone before he pushed the 'end' button.

"I can't believe this." Craig gasped.

_"This story was brought to us by an anonymous resource."_ The reporter continued.

"_**Cartman!**_" All four boys spat in anger.

Kenny muted the TV before throwing his arms up in rage. "I'm totally going to _**kill**_ that mother-fucker!" He screamed. Part of him could not believe in Cartman's betrayal, but on the other hand, he could.

Mitch walked into the room. The boys turned to see the angry and disappointed look on the man's face. They could tell he had found out about the report on Kenny's past. Kenny slapped his hand on his forehead to try to hide his face from the impending lecture he would hear from their manager.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

It was the following morning and it seemed like all of L.A. was talking about Kenny's past, all thanks to the Insider's afternoon report. The boys heard more about it on the radio, tabloids magazines, and especially the TV. This certainly was not the kind of reputation they wanted people to know them for.

Kenny tapped his foot as he impatiently held his cell phone to his ear. Finally, the phone stopped ringing and the actual person he wanted to talk with answered instead of the voice mail he was getting all night.

"Cartman! It's about time you answered your phone!" He spat angrily. "Don't you, 'hey Kenny' _me_, you asshole! You have any _**fucking**_ idea what you put me through?" He paused briefly when Cartman tried to defend his actions.

"Shut your fat hole, you selfish piece of shit. You low-life scum of the dark corners of the _**fuckin' **_universe!" Kenny Screamed into the phone.

Clyde watched the blond boy screaming into his phone as he ate his breakfast bagel. He turned his head to Craig and Token as they walked up to the table. Clyde noticed Craig holding what looked like a tabloid newspaper in his hand.

"Is that another story about us?" Clyde asked, pointing to the magazine in Craig's hand.

"You might say that." Craig nodded.

"I mean, how _dare_ you tell some asshole reporter that I used to cheese and sniff paint. Now thanks to all the tabloids, everyone thinks I'm an addict. This is not the kind of reputation none of us need out here! You may think you are safe in South Park, but I'm only seven hundred and sixty five miles away. It will only take me a two hour and twenty minute flight and I can be at your front door breaking every _**fucking**_ limb on your fat_** fucking**_ body!"

"Wow, I don't think I've heard Kenny so angry before." Craig commented.

"Well, there was that night he had a fight with his mom." Token pointed out.

"Naw, it was not as bad as he sounds now." Clyde noted. "So what is that paper saying about us this time?"

"Glad you asked," Token said. "Craig," he addressed the paper in the other boy's hand.

"You'd be surprised the pictures some people get during our public appearances." Craig said as he slapped the magazine onto the table.

Once his hand moved, Clyde saw a photograph of the KCCT band standing on the beach. There was a thick red circle around Clyde's head and an arrow pointing to a zoomed in image that made it seem the brunette boy was picking his nose in public.

"You guys don't honestly believe that I was picking my nose do you?" He asked nervously.

"Clyde it does show that your finger is up your nostril pretty far." Token pointed out.

"It's not what it looks like, I swear!" The brunette boy cried defensively.

"Please, I saw you picking you nose in class back in our old school a few times when you though no one was watching." Craig rolled his eyes.

"That was in grade three!" Clyde said as an excuse.

"You mean to tell me that you were paid a hundred and twenty dollars to tell my dark past to the tabloids?" Kenny shouted. "That's a whole new low for you... No, _you_ listen here! You keep your fat _**fucking**_ face shut from now on, or I _**will**_ be on the next plain to Colorado! I will rip you a new asshole before tearing out your _**fucking**_ tongue. Then I will shove it up your old asshole to show everyone that you like to talk shit about people! Do you hear me you FAT FUCK?"

The other boys cringed at the image Kenny described.

Before Cartman would respond, Kenny ended the call and threw his new iphone onto the couch. It bounced roughly against the cushions until it landed safely face down on the cushion seat. Kenny took a few deep breathes to calm down before he turned his head to the other boys at the table.

"I think Cartman got the message, Ken." Craig nodded approvingly.

Kenny did not answer, but shook his head in disbelief.

"Say, Ken... Did I hear you correctly when Cartman only got paid a hundred and twenty dollars for ratting you out?" Token asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, if I'm not mistaken most tabloids usually pay no less than three hundred and seventy five dollars, or more for a scoop."

"Sounds like the fatass got _boned_." Craig chuckled.

Kenny gave a half smile as he walked up to the table.

"You know, I don't feel as bad anymore, especially when he bragged on spending it all on chicken wings and lobster." He snorted.

Once Kenny sat up at the table, he grabbed a piece of toast that he left on his plate. Before he bit down on it, he noticed the tabloid. Clyde watched nervously, hoping he would not notice the photo.

"Clyde, why are you picking your nose in this picture?" The blonde-haired boy asked.

"Arg! I wasn't picking my nose!" The brown-haired boy screamed. In frustration, he grabbed the tabloid and scrunched it up into a tight ball then threw it across the room.

"Whatever, Clyde." Kenny chuckled.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Meanwhile back in South Park, everyone in class all stared at Cartman as he pulled the cell phone down from his ear. He looked nervously at all the eyes on him.

"What?" Cartman snapped with an irritated tone.

"Dude, I could hear every word Kenny said to you from over here." Kyle explained half way across the room.

"Yeah," the entire class agreed.

"Heh, I'm sure the ol' boy was just joking." Cartman shrugged.

"That did not sound like a joke to me, Cartman." Stan warned. "Maybe you should stay from reporters for awhile."

"Pff, sure, whatever you say, Stan." The fat boy scoffed.

"Alright class, shall we continue with today's lessons - unless Cartman has anymore phone calls with former students threatening his sorry ass...?" Mr. Garrison announced.


	10. Drugged

_**Author's Note:**__ Part of the lyrics "Living On A Prayer" by Bon Jovi are borrowed for this chapter._

**Chapter 10 - Drugged**

It was another scheduled performance at the Monte Carlo Resort. This time they worked an afternoon gig so not so many Vegas dancers ran around the dressing room, not that the boys minded. They could use a quiet show after their nightmarish week with the cheesing scandal.

While Kenny, Craig, and Clyde got their hair fixed for the show, Token wondered further back into the dressing room to change his shirt for the concert. With a growl, he looked down at the grape juice stain on his light blue shirt. How could the hairdresser not notice her own drink before knocking it over and splashing him with the juice?

Token grabbed his bag, from behind one of the clothes racks, and dug out a few shirts to choose. There was his white shirt, which he wore to many of the groups' performances, or he could put on a grey shirt for a change.

A noise of someone fishing through a bag caused Token to glance over his shoulder. He saw Mitch pulling out a small plastic bottle from Kenny's duffle bag. It was obvious that the man did not notice Token behind him. The manager opened the bottle and started to pour out some pills that were inside. Token realised it was a child's aspirin bottle and suspected that maybe Mitch wanted to borrow some of Kenny's aspirin. With a shrug, he turned back to the two shirts and finally chose the white one.

Token reached up over his head, pulled off the stained shirt before taking the white one. He forced his head though the top as he tugged the rest of his clothing down his body. Again, Token heard someone going through a bag behind him and rattling a small plastic bottle. The dark boy slid his arms though the sleeves of his jacket before he spun around to see Kenny drinking from his water bottle.

"Oh, hey Ken." Token waved as he stepped forward.

Kenny looked a little surprised at first when he saw Token, but relaxed once he realised it was his friend.

"Hey," Kenny replied in a soft tone. He started to take another sip from his plastic flip-top bottle.

The way Kenny reacted made Token concerned for him. The young blond boy seemed tired and very quiet all of a sudden. Token wondered if it was because of the stress they've been through lately. He tilted his head to one side and asked, "you alright?"

Kenny gave him a half smile before he replied, "Yeah, I just have a headache that's all. I took some aspirin, so I should be ok before going on stage."

"Cool, ready to go?"

Kenny paused as if to think about the question. He then nodded and said, "Sure."

Moments later the boys made it up the stairs. The group on stage had just finished their last song and the audience cheered as they left the stage.

Mitch noticed the boys walking up behind him and frowned at them.

"Well, as usual you boys manage to make it with seconds to spare." He growled.

"Sorry Mitch," Clyde apologized.

Without warning, Kenny inappropriately laughed aloud.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Mitch asked Kenny.

"Nothing." The blond boy snickered. "Don't worry. I just had a headache so I took aspirin and I am A-okkay now." He explained as he held up his thumb. "I feel nothing." Kenny continued with a snort.

Mitch's face went pale. He was about to say something when the back stage manager walked up to them.

"KCCT, you're up." He announced.

The boys took their positions on stage. Kenny stumbled over his own feet and bumped into the microphone stand. The microphone slipped out of its' cradle and bounced off his head, which caused a noisy feedback in the speakers. The blond boy fumbled to catch the microphone, unsuccessfully, before it landed with a loud thud on the stage.

"Oops," he snickered to his band mates. Kenny bent down to pick up the mic.

"What are you doing?" Craig hissed through his teeth.

"And now, the KCCT!" The announcer spoke clearly over the speakers just before the curtains pulled back. The seats in the audience were only half-full, which showed not many people came in for lunch.

Kenny squinted at the bright spotlights shining down on them. He let out a groan of irritation as he used his own hands as a shield over his eyes. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust, and as soon as they did, he stepped forward.

"Hi everyone!" He chirped loudly into the mic and waved innocently to the crowd.

"_Shit,_" Mitch moaned while pinching the bridge of his nose with his left hand.

"We are, um, going to sing...a song." Kenny said as he tried to speak as normal as he could. "Hope you will like it, because it's just awesome to be here."

"What?" Token whispered, not understanding what Kenny was trying to say.

The blond boy turned to smile at the other boys, and each of them gave him a puzzled look. The boys made a mental note to yell at Kenny later for acting goofy on stage. As soon as the music started, Kenny snapped his fingers to the beat.

Craig and Clyde brought their mouths up to the microphones and sang repeatedly, "_Whoa, whoa-o._"

Token leaned forward and purred into the mic, "_Once upon a time, Not so long ago..._" 

Kenny pulled the mic to his face and sang,

_Tommy used to work on the docks  
>Union's been on strike<br>He's down on his luck...it's tough, so tough  
>Gina works the diner all day<br>Working for her man, she brings home her pay  
>For love - Mmm, for love <em> 

Kenny moved his hand over his chest seductively to the crowd. An action the other boys noticed. Whatever Kenny thought he was doing, it sure was not helping their image as a professional singing group. They also noticed the way Kenny swayed his body in a very loose manner. The boys wondered if their lead singer was losing it after what happened the week before.

Token, Craig, and Clyde join Kenny in singing the next verse.

_She says we've got to hold on to what we've got  
>'Cause it doesn't make a difference<br>If we make it or not  
>We've got each other and that's a lot<br>For love - _

Kenny sang with emphases, "_we'll give it a shot"_

Again all four boys joined in.__

_Whooah, we're half way there  
>Livin' on a prayer<br>_

"Kenny reached his hand out to the audience. "_Take my hand and we'll make it - I swear."  
><em>

All four boys sang in chorus. _"Livin' on a prayer!"  
><em>

At this point, Kenny started sounding completely out of breath and sweating more than usual.

Mitch nervously watches from backstage. He overheard some of the backstage hands commenting on how Kenny looked 'high'. The panic was showing on his face, he was not sure what to do, so the boys' manager bit down hard on his thumb. "_Shit,_" he hissed again.

Gradually, Kenny started to peel off his jacket. It became stuck as once it rolled over his right hand. He kept singing as he attempted to shake the clothing off with his whole arm until finally he was free from it. Token, Clyde, and Craig felt so embarrassed by Kenny's antics that they wanted to run off the stage.

_Tommy's got his six string in hock  
>Now he's holding in what he used<br>To make it talk - so tough, it's tough  
>Gina dreams of running away<br>When she cries in the night  
>Tommy whispers baby it's okay, someday<em> 

At this point Kenny's face started to look dizzy and confused. His breathing became unsteadily harder as he sang. It also seemed that Kenny was fighting to stand straight.

Again all four boys sang.

_We've got to hold on to what we've got  
>'Cause it doesn't make a difference<br>If we make it or not  
>We've got each other and that's a lot<br>For love - _

_"We'll give it a shot."_ Kenny sang, his voice sounded much weaker.

The former poor boy stopped moving and stood frozen starring up at the bright spotlight before he suddenly dropped his microphone and collapsed hard on the stage. Craig, Clyde, and Token stopped playing the second their lead singer hit the floor. The audience screamed in terror as a few stagehands and paramedics from backstage ran out to inspect the fallen boy.

"Oh my God, I killed Kenny." Mitch whispered to himself. He quickly spun his head around to make sure no one heard him before he ran out to play the 'concerned manager'.


	11. Aftermath

**Chapter 11 - Aftermath**

"Kenny?" A calm, gentle male voice said. "Can you hear me? Wake up, Kenny. Open your eyes, son."

Slowly Kenny responded to the man's commands. He blinked a few times; each time he did his blurred vision would adjust to the dimly lit room. The first thing he heard before his sight cleared was a beeping sound. To his knowledge, it sounded like a heart monitor. Next, he heard what sounded like oxygen hissing, which quickly made sense when he felt small tubes up his nostrils, and air blowing through them. It really did not take long for the young performer to realize he was in a hospital bed, and the man talking to him was a doctor.

"Wha..." He tried to speak.

"Do you know where you are, Kenny?" The man in the white coat asked.

"Hospital?" The blond boy answered in a form of a question.

"Correct." The doctor nodded. "You are, in fact, at the Sunrise Hospital in Los Vegas."

"What happened?" Kenny asked in a weak voice. His mind felt like it floated in a foggy soup.

"You don't remember?" The medical physician raised his eyebrow. He looked up at the boy after jotting down a few notes on his chart.

Kenny moved his head gingerly from side to side as a sign for the doctor to see the answer was no.

"Kenny, when you were brought in we did some blood tests and found high traces of an illegal substance called, MDMA in your system. Do you know what that is?" The doctor asked.

Again, Kenny shook his head, "no." He said quietly.

"MDMA is an illicit street drug that is also known as Ecstasy. The dosage we found in your blood was enough to _kill_ you, but luckily you were brought here in time." The doctor explained.

Kenny gave the doctor a puzzled look. "I don't understand."

"You almost died this afternoon, Kenny. If the paramedics had not been at the theatre when you collapsed then the worst might have happened." The man rephrased his previous explanation.

"What?" Nothing this doctor was telling him sounded right.

"Do you have any memory of what you _did_ this afternoon?" The physician enquired.

Kenny moved his eyes from right to left as he searched his mind on what he could remember doing. Once he did, he looked back up at the doctor. "I remember leaving the dressing room to go on stage. Then I woke up here."

"What about before you left the dressing room?"

Again, Kenny retraced his steps on what he did. His memory cleared a bit as he began to remember doing something. His eyes rolled over to the doctor. "I had a headache, so I took some aspirin."

"Anything else?" The doctor raised his eyebrows at the boy.

"Nothing - just water." Kenny corrected himself.

"You don't remember taking Ecstasy?"

"Uh-uh," Kenny responded shaking his head again. "Only two aspirin." He said as he struggled to hold up two fingers.

The doctor let out a deep sigh. He looked down at the boy with the expression that could have said he was hoping for a different answer - a confession maybe. The doctor patted Kenny on the shoulder before he spoke. "Alright, try to get some rest. Your manager called your mom and she is on her way. We will talk again later, ok."

More puzzled than ever, Kenny watched the doctor leave the room. He rolled his head so he was staring up at the ceiling. Not sure why, but Kenny was scared to death on what had happened and why he could not remember it. He curled up into a fetal position onto his side. His body started to shake, so he tried to cover himself up more with the blanket. He was careful though, not disturb the IV needle that was jabbed into his arm.

It felt like he was lying in that lonely room for hours with only the noise of the machines to keep him company. Kenny drifted in and out of consciousness for who knows how long. His mind, filled with so much confusion and questions. What happened? How did he end up in this hospital? Why is the last thing he remembered was leaving the dressing room?

He could not help but to think of the previous week. Kenny remembered how he felt when his shaky past was exposed. He and even the rest of the KCCT band became instant targets for the tabloids. Tears rolled down from his closed eyelids. A painful guilt washed over him in a way that it felt like someone had just punched him hard in the stomach. Clyde, Craig, and Token did not deserve that kind of reputation, and it was all because of his former addictions. A scary thought crept through his mind. He thought that maybe he did do something that he should not have done at the theatre. It could be that he did take drugs, other then aspirin, and his mistake was the result of his condition now.

A soft rapping sound perked his ears, but Kenny did not open his eyes. The door opened and his mother, Mrs. Tucker, Mrs. Black, and the boys walked in. Each one of them wore a worried look on their faces. Carol rushed up to her son's bedside, and instantly started to stroke his hair back.

"Kenny," she mewled. "Baby, you awake?"

The young boy slowly opened his eyes to look up at his distressed mother. His eyes swelled up with fresh tears the instance he saw her.

"Mommy," he cried, unable to stop the tears from falling.

"It's ok, baby. I'm here now." She said soothingly as she continued to stroke his hair. Her own eyes filled with tears of worry. "Awe, Kenny. What happened to you? The doctor told us you were takin' Ecstasy."

"I'm not sure what happened, but if I did take the drug, then I'm _really sorry_." Kenny's whole body shook with the fear.

"Do you remember anything you did?" She asked him.

Kenny sniffled and rubbed some tears away from his eyes before he responded by shaking his head from side to side. "I only remember taking a couple of aspirin for a headache before leaving the dressing room."

Token dropped his jaw the second he heard Kenny say that. He darted his eyes from left to right as his mind raced back to that moment in the dressing room. Instantly, Token turned before he headed to the door.

"Where are you going?" Craig asked.

"To find my dad," Token replied. "I need to tell him something." He said before exiting the room.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Mr. Black entered the room with his son an hour and a half later. After telling Token to sit down with his mom, Mrs. Tucker, and the other two boys, he went up to Mrs. McCormick. Carol had not moved far from Kenny's bed. Sometime within the past hour, she had decided to sit down, and hold her boy's hand. Steve leaned in slightly to have a closer look at, the now sound asleep, Kenny. He then placed a hand on his mother's shoulder to get her attention. She glanced up at him.

"Come with me. We need to talk." The lawyer told her. He nodded his head to the door and led her out into the hall.

The two of them walked in silence. Carol knew the talk would be about Kenny. She feared that her son's actions may have jeopardized the boys' contract, and they all would have to go home. They stopped in front of what looked like an office door. The young redheaded woman scrunched her brow forward in a confused manner when Mr. Black turned and smiled at her before opening the door.

"Mrs. McCormick, why don't you have a seat over there?" He suggested politely, addressing the chair at the other end of the room behind the desk.

Carol walked over to the chair, but before she sat down, she noticed the boys' manager sitting across from her. His right wrist handcuffed to the chair, and his free hand cradled his head as he leaned onto the armrest for support. A police officer stood in the room slightly behind where Mitch was sitting. Mitch gradually brought his eyes up to meet hers. His face expressed a lot of guilt and embarrassment. Carol looked up at the lawyer, puzzled.

"I believe Mr. Broadbent here has a confession to tell you." Steven told her. He took out a digital voice recorder and started the recording before laying it on the desk in front of them. The middle-aged lawyer stood by her side as she slowly sat down, her eyes staring directly at Mitch. "Go ahead and tell her what you told us." Mr. Black demanded to the arrested man.

Mitch took a deep breath in and let it out in a shaky sigh. "I, um," he delayed for a moment. Mainly fearing her reaction on what he was about to tell her. "I switched Kenny's children's aspirin for Ecstasy..."

"You **WHAT**!?" Mrs. McCormick stood up so fast and yelled so loud that everyone in the room jumped. Mr. Black grabbed her shoulder quickly and guided her back down into the chair.

"Mrs. McCormick, please." He pleaded. "I need you to remain calm and let him finish. Continue Mr. Broadbent." Steve encouraged Mitch.

The manager cast his eyes down at the chained cuff around his wrist. With a frown, he swallowed a large lump in his throat. He opened his mouth and said, "I was going to a party this weekend and... one of my friends asked me to pick up a few pills. After purchasing them, I returned to the Monte Carlo hotel. On my way back to the theatre, I overheard one of the security guards in the lobby say they were going to search everyone that performed there for narcotics. What can I say? I panicked - I-I thought they would check me as well, even though I was not a performer, just the manager... I thought I would hide the drugs in Kenny's bag by switching his aspirin since they looked very similar to Ecstasy. I hoped the security guards might not even know the difference. But, I swear I did _not_ expect that Kenny would mistakenly take one, little alone two, before he went on stage."

There was a brief silence in the room as Carol digested Mitch's story. Her upper lip curled, showing her teeth in rage. "You mean to tell me that my boy is lyin' in that hospital bed, thinking he's done somethin' wrong, _**all**_ because _**you**_ were scared you might get caught carryin' _**drugs**_?" She spat out in anger.

Mitch bit his bottom lip, trying to remain collected as his emotions tried to overpower him. "I'm sorry," He finally choked.

"Oh, _trust me_. When I'm done with you, you're gonna to be _**real**_sorry." Mrs. McCormick growled in a threatening manner.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Five days have passed when the doctor finally gave the ok to discharge Kenny from the hospital. As the boy got dressed with the new clothes his mom got him, he thought about everything that Mr. Black told him. He felt betrayed that Mitch would hide drugs in is bag, and not even warn him about the aspirin bottle.

According to what the doctor said to him, he could have died with the dosage he took. Especially, when he said that the water he drank with it had a serious impact on the drug. Maybe having the paramedics at the scene could be part of the reason he survived, and yet, a small voice in his mind suggested the possibility his immortality denied his death - this time. Either way, he would say that this, one of few of his near-deaths, was nothing short of a miracle.

The seriousness of this situation really started to sink in when Mr. Black asked him to sign a whole bunch of papers that would allow the go ahead to sue Mitch Broadbent, and receive compensation payment from the corporation in charge of the KCCT's record contract.

This whole thing also meant that he, Craig, Clyde, and Token would have to move back to South Park until all legal disputes with Mitch has been resolved. It would be unclear if the KCCT would even get a renewed contract, or not. Mr. Black, however, did mention that there might be a good chance they would get another contract in a couple of months, along with a new manager, after when the courts cleared the case.

Kenny felt sad that his road to fame was cut short, but a small part of him was actually relieved to be going back home. In fact, with the money he got from the company could easily pay for a new home for him and his family. The money he made during the shows he performed and album sales would be able to start a decent GIC savings for when he and his siblings graduated high school. The money his mom started to sue Mitch for most likely would be for spending money he could share with his family.

He had just finished tying his shoes when Craig, Clyde, and Token rush into the room.

"Hey Ken, you ready yet?" Token asked.

"Yeah, I guess." He replied with a heavy sigh. With a long face, Kenny cast his eyes down onto the floor.

"What's wrong?" Clyde asked.

"I don't know," Kenny shrugged. "I'm kind of glad we're going home, but still I feel miserable."

The three boys looked at each other before Craig spoke. "Well, the doctor did tell us that one of the side effects of the drug can cause depression for at least a week or so."

"_Great_, that's _all_ I really need." The young McCormick boy scoffed sarcastically.

"Come on Ken, you need to comb your hair. Stop looking like you just crawled out of bed." Token laughed as he picked up the blond boy's hairbrush from his bag.

"But I did just crawl out of bed." Kenny replied in a matter of fact.

"Yeah, but we are about to step out in public, and we can't have our lead singer looking all scruffy. Now can we?" Craig mentioned as he snatched the brush from Token's hand then began to comb Kenny's blond spiky hair.

"Ow," Kenny barked. Even though Craig was not trying to be rough, there were sections of his head that was tangled.

"There. Done," the raven-haired boy said before he shoved the brush into Kenny's duffle bag. He zipped it shut, and then threw the strap over his shoulder.

"Now for the final touch," Clyde stepped up and placed a pair of shades over Kenny's eyes. He stepped back for a better inspection. "Awesome, now you don't look so stoned."

"Seriously, I still look fucked up?" Kenny asked in half shock.

"Sadly, another side effect of the drug." Token shrugged. He reached over and grabbed Kenny's arm. "Come on, let's get outta here."

"Great," Kenny groaned while being led out of the room.

As the boys entered the hall, they met up with their moms.

"Are you boys ready?" Nancy asked.

"Yeah mom, we're ready." Craig nodded up to her.

"Then let's go." Linda ordered as she took the lead towards the exit.

The second Kenny walked towards the glass sliding doors he squinted, regardless of the shades helping to reduce the brightness of the sun. Before the doors would slide open, however, he froze in his tracks. Slowly he panned the parking lot of the hospital. There had to be hundreds, if not, thousands of people standing around. Some of them held up homemade cardboard posters with painted messages that read, _'KCCT, we love you'_ and _'Get well soon, Kenny'_ on them. A row of police officers kept the crowd behind a yellow rope that also created a path down the parking lot.

Kenny stood with his jaw hung open. He glanced at his friends and their moms. They returned their gaze back at him with smiles on their faces. Kenny concluded that they knew about this.

Mrs. Black took a guess on what Kenny might be thinking, so she kneeled down to his height. "They all showed up this morning once the news aired that you were leaving the hospital today." She said.

"Apparently they are all big fans of the KCCT." Nancy added. "Ever since that one story aired about you Kenny two weeks ago, the TV, radio, and papers have been talking about _all_ of you boys. Many radio stations even started playing some of your songs. Not to mention your album started selling more and people downloading your MP3 singles, too."

"Plus, your music videos on YouTube received double the hits and comments." Linda finished.

"Isn't that wonderful, Kenny?" Carol asked her son. "All of these people came here to show their support."

Kenny's lips gradually stretched up to a half smile. "Yeah," he managed to squeak.

"The limo is over there." Token pointed down the lot. Nearly three hundred feet away a black limo waited with the driver standing patiently beside it. Realizing how far it really was, he nervously started scratching the back of his head. "Sorry, the driver couldn't get it closer to the hospital because of the crowd."

With a deep breath, Kenny replied nervously. "Well, let's do this then."

Carol reached over and grabbed Kenny's bag from Craig. She gave him a confirmed nod that she would carry it instead of him. Just as they all took their first steps outside, the crowd began cheering.

It took all of Kenny's courage to prevent him from crying with the emotional impact he received from the people. He forced a weak smile and a waved to the fans, as did the other boys. Their mothers walked a few steps behind them, knowing it would be proper to let the boys have this moment.

"We love you, Kenny!" A few young girls cried in unison from the screaming crowd.

Hearing those girls made Kenny's cheeks blush. He was so glad that he was wearing the dark sunglasses, because at that moment he could feel the sting of tears threatening to fall from his eyes. Once again, he blamed the drug for being this emotional. Suddenly, he wished the limo had been a hundred feet closer. Trying to keep a smile going was becoming harder. The sound of many cameras shuttering snap shots of him and the other boys started to enhance the stress.

Once the boys were within five feet to the limo, the driver reached over and opened the door for them. Kenny took one more deep breath before turning back to the crowd, flashed one last bright smile, and waved. Craig, Token, and Clyde did the same. Then one by one, they jumped into the vehicle. Nancy, Linda, and Carol followed the boys in before the driver closed the door. He then walked around to the driver's side. Once the young man entered, he started the ignition, and drove off. The crowd kept cheering until the limo was out of sight.


	12. Back to School

_**Author's Note:**__ Well this is the final chapter. I hope you all have enjoyed this story. As usual, I appreciated all the reviews thus far. I look forward to more comments you wish to share. This chapter includes part of the lyrics "Keep the Faith" by Bon Jovi._

_Thank you all, once again, for your interest in this story!_

**Chapter 12 - Back to School**

_Mother, mother tell your children  
>That their time has just begun<br>I have suffered for my anger  
>There are wars that can't be won<em>

The sound of his alarm clock caused Kenny to stir under his cozy sheets. He smiled the second he recognized the song on the radio. It was the song 'Keep the Faith' he sang along with Craig, Clyde, and Token. Bon Jovi sang the original lyrics, but Kenny felt that he and the rest of the band played a decent version of it.

_Father father please believe me  
>I am laying down my guns<br>I am broken like an arrow  
>Forgive me<br>Forgive your wayward son_

Kenny opened his eyes before sitting up. He stretched out his arms high above his head as he let out a big yawn. Slowly, Kenny brought his arms back down as he took a moment to scan his new room with pride.

There were still a few unopened cardboard boxes sitting in the far corner of the room, but most of his clothes, at least, had been unpacked and either hung in the closet or stored in the new dresser drawer. Kenny also managed to put up some new posters, similar to the ones he had up at the old home. He also posted a few specialty-framed pictures up on his wall. They were of him, Clyde, Craig, and Token. Each of the photos was during their time in L.A. He also put up a few family pictures that they took recently.

However, he was enjoying the cleanliness of the room more. There were no rats, or cockroaches running around. The paint on the walls did not have any peeling cracks, and the ceiling had no water strains. The real bonus was that the rug looked brand new. To him, this was heaven. He sucked in a deep breath through his nose and enjoyed the clean fragrance that had no rotting mildew smell.

_Everybody needs somebody to love  
>(mother, mother)<br>Everybody needs somebody to hate  
>(please believe me)<br>Everybody's bitching  
>Cause they can't get enough<br>And it's hard to hold on  
>When there's no one to lean on<em>_  
><em>  
>The sound of someone knocking brought his attention to the bedroom door. His mother poked her head in with a raised eyebrow.<p>

"Kenny, you awake yet?" She asked in a serious tone.

"Yeah mom," he replied while rubbing some sleep from his eye.

"Well, hurry up and get dressed. Breakfast is ready and your dad says he will drive you to school on his way to his job interview." The young woman instructed.

"Ok mom." He said with another yawn.

As soon as Carol closed the door, Kenny gradually rolled back his covers and leapt off the bed.

_Faith: you know you're gonna live thru the rain  
>Lord you got to keep the faith<br>Faith: don't let your love turn to hate  
>Right now we got to<br>Keep the faith  
>Keep the faith<br>Keep the faith  
>Lord we got to keep the faith<em>

He turned off the alarm clock, and went over to his new dresser drawers and pulled out clean socks, underwear, black jeans, and an orange long sleeved t-shirt. Kenny placed them on his unmade bed before unbuttoning his NASCAR racers pajama top. He then removed his pajama bottoms, and began slipping on his clean clothes.

Once all dressed, Kenny walked up to the mirror on top of his dresser. He picked up his brush to comb his hair, but as he started to stroke his golden locks, he realized due to his busy schedule the last few weeks he forgot to get a haircut.

"Awe, you've got to be kidding me." He grumbled in an irritated tone.

Checking the hour on his alarm clock, he knew there would be no time to do much with his messy hair. The last thing he wanted to do was walk in the school looking like a shaggy poor kid. There would be no orange parka to hide his unruly hair in this time.

Thinking quickly, he grabbed an orange bandana and wrapped it around his head. Then he picked up his newly purchased black and orange NASCAR cap. Kenny tugged the hat down onto his head, and twisted it so it sat on crooked with the stiff peak of the cap slightly hung over his right eye. Lastly, Kenny walked up to his closet. He pulled off his black leather jacket from the hanger, and slid it on over his back. After zipping up the front of his jacket, he turned to the mirror for inspection.

Satisfied with the new look he just gave himself, Kenny tied his shoes on before he sauntered out of his room. As he walked down the hall towards the stairs, he heard his mother arguing with his dad. The young boy was not sure, but it sounded like she was yelling at him not to be late for his job interview. Stuart responded, as usual, by swearing at her and calling her names. With a sigh, Kenny shook his head.

"You can take the rednecks out of the ghetto, but you just can't seem to take the ghetto out of the rednecks." He muttered quietly to himself.

Kenny made his way down the stairs then turned the corner and headed into the kitchen. Karen was the first to notice him enter. She perked her head up and chirped, "Hi Kenny!"

Mr. and Mrs. McCormick instantly ceased their squabble, and looked up at their blond-haired son.

"Mornin' baby," Carol sang. "Your breakfast is on the table. Hurry and eat it before it gets too cold. Your brother and sister already finished theirs."

"Kay," Kenny nodded as he took his seat at the table.

"Nice hat," Kevin commented as he reached over to try grabbing the NASCAR cap from Kenny's head.

"Piss off, jackass! Go get your own." Kenny responded by slapping his older brother's hand away.

"Kevin! Leave your brother's things alone!" Carol scolded the twelve year old.

"But mom..." the tween boy whined. "It's not fair. He has nicer things then I do."

"That's because he worked for them, you little _shit_!" Mr. McCormick spat before he took a sip of his coffee.

It was a nice change to see the man drink from a coffee mug instead of a beer bottle, Kenny thought as he ate his scrambled eggs and toast.

"Stuart," Carol growled. "I will not have you keep talkin' like that at the breakfast table!"

"I'll talk anyway I like, you stupid bitch!" He retorted.

Mrs. McCormick slammed her hands palm down on the table and rose to her feet. She was about to respond to her husband's ignorance when she spotted Kenny from the corner of her eye. Her scowled expression turned to surprise as she gradually moved her head slightly to the boy. Stuart noticed the look on Carol's face had changed, and glanced over to his son as well.

Kenny had stopped eating to stare up at them with a frown on his face. In fact, all three of their kids looked up with a disappointed expression. Stuart suddenly felt a pain of guilt wash over him. How was it that he and his wife never noticed before? Have their children always shown fear and disappointment when he and Carol fought? It dawned on him as he glanced down in the mug he held, and stared at the coffee he had half drunk. Temporarily lost in his thoughts, he figured that maybe he and his wife never noticed before was because they were drunk, stoned, or both most of the time.

He quickly glanced around the room, a new home with working plumbing and heating, new clothes on their backs, and fresh food on the table. It was all because of their middle child, Kenny.

Even back, when they all lived a dirt-poor life, Kenny had always worked hard to help his family out whenever he could. With the record contract, Kenny had finally succeeded in pulling the McCormick family out from the ghetto - and this time he did not die doing it, which was a true blessing for him and Carol.

It was defiantly a moment like this that made Stuart glad he and his wife went to the mysterious cult meeting eleven years ago. Stuart also realized that from now on, he had to man-up, and be the actual father this family desperately needed. It was his duty to do his part and support them. This job interview must go well today, so he could do just that.

Stuart reached over to touch the blond child's shoulder. "I'm sorry," he apologized to everyone, but mainly to Kenny. "Finish your breakfast, son. You don't want to be late on your first day back to school."

"Ok," Kenny nodded.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

The school bus pulled up to the curb and the door opened letting the students of South Park Elementary out one by one. Kyle, Stan, and Cartman were one of the last groups that got off the bus before the doors closed and the driver drove away.

"So, I spoke to Kenny last night and he said that he, Clyde, Craig, and Token are coming back to school today." Stan told the other two boys.

"I know," Kyle nodded. "He spoke to me as well. Did he tell you about the new house he bought for his family?"

"Sure did. I asked him if he is planning on having a big party, and he said when things are settled down and his family is all moved in, he might." Stan answered with excitement in his voice.

"That's weird; _Kinny_ hasn't called me since he came home." Cartman wondered aloud.

"After what you did, selling his story of when he cheesed and sniffed paint? It'll be surprising if he won't try to kill you when he sees you today." Kyle warned.

"Shut your fucking Jew-hole!" Cartman barked. "_Kinny_ and I are best friends. He'll be really glad to see me today, you'll see."

"Sure Cartman. Just keep telling yourself that." Stan rolled his eyes.

The three boys entered the school, headed down the hall, and stopped in front their lockers. At the same time, they began to dial the combination to open the doors.

"It's going to be really different having them back, don't you think?" Kyle asked as he grabbed his math book. "I read on the internet that the courts are still dealing with the case between Kenny's manager and him."

"Dude, I still remember hearing about that on the radio and TV." Stan said, slamming his locker shut after he got his book out. "I was _so_ scared that Kenny might die when he accidently took those drugs. I hope that manager rots in prison for what he did." He growled, shaking his fist with emphasis.

Cartman snorted a laugh. He closed his locker and faced his friends.

"That's not funny, fatass!" Kyle scolded.

"Yeah man, not cool." Stan agreed.

Kyle closed his door, and the three of them headed towards their classroom.

"You guys don't get it. All of that is all over now. _Kinny's_, so called, trip to 'fame' is finished, he's back, and so are Craig, Clyde, and Token. Yes, things will start returning to normal soon enough." Cartman sounded confident as he spoke.

"You're really full of yourself, Cartman. I don't think that is going to be the case this time." Stan said, doubting him.

"Awe, you assholes are just jealous that I scored a tone of cash for telling _Kinny's_ story to the press. Yup, those lobsters and chicken wings never tasted so good." Cartman smacked his lips together as he remembered the night after receiving the cash from the tabloid reporter.

"Know what's _really_ funny, fatass?" Kyle laughed. He stopped so he could turn to Cartman, face to face. "The fact you only got a hundred and twenty dollars from that reporter, while Kenny ended up getting well over Forty Five _thousand_ dollars from album sales and MP3 downloads alone after that scandal aired. That's not even including the hundred thousand, and five hundred he's earned from all the shows he performed with Craig, Clyde, and Token."

"And because of what that stinking manager did, switching his aspirin with drugs, Kenny got around one point five million dollars as compensation pay from the record company he was contract with." Stan added.

"He's supposed to get a whole lot more after the lawsuit has been resolved in his favor too. I think it will be over twenty to thirty million or so. That is what I read anyway." Kyle shrugged.

"So, when you think about it. Things are not going back to the way they were, because Kenny is no longer the poor kid in our school." Stan scratched his chin in thought.

"Yeah, you could say he's one of the riches kids now." Kyle snickered, especially seeing the stunned look on Cartman's face.

Eric Cartman stood in shock. His eyes bugged wide open, and his jaw hung low towards the floor.

"Cool, our best friend is rich _and_ famous!" Stan laughed as he and Kyle walked ahead into the classroom. They both let out a small cheer as they slapped a high-five to each other.

"That son of a _**bitch**_!" Cartman spat aloud, throwing his books down on the floor. A few classmates could not help but to watch his short temper tantrum as they entered the classroom.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

A brand new truck pulled up to the school and stopped by the curb. Kenny hopped out and turned around to face the driver.

"Thanks dad. Good luck with the job interview." He told him.

"Thanks boy. You learn lots of stuff today, alright? See you when you get home from school." Stuart replied.

Kenny nodded then swung the passenger door closed, and watched his dad drive off. He really did hope to God that his father would get the new job at the Sawmill. There would be no way he could support the entire family in paying bills, and keeping food on the table all the time. It was just luck that Mr. Donavan was good friends with the manager at the mill, which might be good for Stuart. That is if he does not resort to his bad habit of drinking himself stupid, then going to work drunk as he had with previous work in the past.

The young boy had been so focused staring down the direction his father drove in that he almost did not notice a car driving up to the curb. Kenny turned his head and watched as Craig jump out from the front seat just before Clyde and Token crawled out from the backseat.

"Thanks for the lift, Mrs. Tucker." Token said as he hopped out of the car.

"Yeah, thanks." Clyde chirped.

"No problem, boys." Nancy replied. "It was my pleasure, since both of your parents were busy."

Mrs. Tucker caught the sight of Kenny walking up to the car with his hands dug deep into the side pockets of his jacket.

"Hi Kenny. You look really nice today." She told him.

"Thank you, Mrs. Tucker." Kenny politely smiled at her.

"I was going to say, Ken, I love your new look." Craig mentioned.

"Yeah," the other two boys nodded in approval.

"Uh, yeah... I couldn't figure out what else to do with my hair." Kenny explained bashfully, pointing up at his cap and bandana.

"Forgot to get a haircut, huh?" Clyde asked with a snicker. Token chuckled as Kenny started to nod his head, yes, to the brunette boy's question.

"Alright, bye boys, I'm off." Nancy announced.

"Bye mom," Craig waved, before he closed the door.

The four boys continued wave as she drove away. They each looked at the other before turning to face the school. A bell sounded off. It was a sign that all students must enter for their first lessons of the day.

"Well, here we are - back to _this _old place." Craig commented, feeling a sense of disbelief.

"It feels kind of weird, you know, after what we've all been through the last seven months." Clyde said.

"Yeah," both Token and Kenny spoke in unison.

Slowly the boys started to walk up to the school doors.

"So, Ken how's the new place looking?" Craig asked, changing the subject.

"It's awesome." The blond boy bragged with a grin. "The place is a hundred times better than the old shack we had to live in before. You guys should come by after school to check it out. There are things that still need to be unpacked, but at least we got the new wide screen TV and Xbox hooked up."

"Sweet," Token cheered. "Is it in 3D?"

"Naw." Kenny shook his head. "My mom said she didn't want to spend all my money on that kind of TV - at least not until the prices come down, like, a lot."

"Yeah, my mom said the same thing." Craig sighed.

"Hey, Kenny my dad told me that he talked to his friend at the Sawmill, and got your dad an interview. Do you know if he got the job?" Clyde wondered.

"Not yet," Kenny shook his head. "He's going to the interview right now, so I might not know till tonight."

"I hope he gets the job, dude." Token said.

"Yeah, me too," Kenny agreed. "I sure as hell won't to be able to support the entire family all the time...well, at least till the next contract will be offered to us." He said with a wink to the other boys.

The boys walked through the school doors and continued to head down the familiar hall.

"Speaking of contracts, have you heard from your dad yet, Token?" Clyde asked.

"Yeah, sort of, he's still working on the lawsuit, and he'll come home this weekend. We can all ask him for an update then." The dark skinned boy replied.

"Cool, I say in the meantime we should get more practice in. Maybe even start writing our own songs." Craig suggested.

"That's a great idea." Clyde cheered.

"Yeah, I'm up for that." Kenny nodded in agreement.

"Me too," Token nodded with Kenny.

They stopped at their old lockers, since the principal never bothered to reassign them from when they left for L.A. Simultaneously, they dialed the combinations to open the doors.

"Say Ken, have you spoken to the old gang yet since we came home?" Clyde asked.

"Only Stan and Kyle," Kenny responded as he pulled his locker door open. He reached in to grab some of his books, and a pencil. He made a mental note to replace the old notebooks for some new ones later this week. "Basically gave them an update that I moved to a new place."

"I'm surprised you haven't called the fatass, and rubbed your success into his face." Craig chuckled.

"Actually, I'm saving that to tell him to his face. I want to watch him squirm with frustration." Kenny said with a devilish grin.

All four boys laughed at the thought of Cartman looking so furious that his head could explode. They continued down the hall after grabbing what they needed from their lockers. The corridor suddenly seemed much quieter all of a sudden. Realizing that most of the students had already disappeared into their classrooms, the boys acted as if they were not in any hurry.

The four boys stopped once they were in front of a closed door that was Mr. Garrison's class. They stood in silence as they realized they were about to step into a room with the same old classmates with the same old teacher. It dawned on them that they have changed since they were last in this room. How would the other students react to their return? The second bell rung through the hall, officially telling the boys that they are late.

"I suppose we should get this over with." Kenny exhaled deeply. He reached up and turned the knob.

They entered the room, and found themselves standing in silence as they saw all the faces turned to stare up at them, including Mr. Garrison. The room was so quiet that everyone could to hear a pin drop. The boys felt uneasy with all the blank stares. A thought crossed their minds to just turn, run out, and leave the school grounds. They began missing what they had back in L.A. It was better having a tutor show up at their door to teach them their lessons five days a week. Defiantly it was less pressure then walking into a room with familiar faces looking up at them as if they, themselves, were strangers.

Stan was the first to move as he started to clap by slowly bring his hands together one slap at a time. Kyle brought up his hands and joined Stan in clapping. Next Butters, then Cartman, until the rest of the class, even Mr. Garrison joined in. The clapping quickly got faster and louder. The noise they were all making, along with the whoops and whistles, echoed down the hall. It would not surprise them if most of the classrooms on the floor could hear the cheering.

The boys blushed as a smile grew on their faces. They did not say anything, or knew how to react to this. It almost felt like the day they left the hospital in Los Vegas a few weeks ago.

The look they received, even from Cartman, showed great enthusiasm and pride. Kenny looked right at his former fat friend. His lips formed a scowl as he narrowed his eyes down at him. Memories of the embarrassing public tales of his past addictions flooded his mind.

Cartman paused in mid clap once he realized the serious look on Kenny's face. He swallowed a huge lump in his throat. He thought back to the phone call and wondered that maybe Kenny was _not_ joking after all. Cartman began to express a worried and apologetic look on his face in hopes that Kenny would forgive him.

Almost reading the other boy's mind, Kenny realized he would have more fun just rubbing his new life into Cartman's face, rather than beating him senseless. Kenny softened his own expression and twisted his lips back up to a small smile. Cartman nervously smiled back as he continued to clap.

Eventually, the noise calmed down, and Mr. Garrison finally spoke.

"Why don't you boys sit down so we can finally begin with today's lessons?" He suggested.

Silently the boys nodded. They wondered across the room and sat at four desks in the back row. As Mr. Garrison stood up to explain math equations on the board, many of the students could not resist turning their heads to glance back at Kenny, Clyde, Craig, and Token.

The boys grew aware of everyone doing that. They would politely nod or wave to each of them. Kenny, Clyde, Craig, and Token started to feel a bit uneasy. It got difficult for them to concentrate on Mr. Garrison's lesson.

"_Psst_... Hey Kenny, Clyde," Bebe whispered. "Can I get your autograph?" She asked, holding up an 8x10 glossy picture of the boys. The boys recognized it as one of the pictures the band took when they first got the contract.

"Yeah, me too?" Red asked, handing the same picture with a Jiffy Marker up to Craig and Token.

Other students began to hold up their pictures of the KCCT as well in hopes the boys would signed it.

"Children," Mr. Garrison barked sternly. "Save all autographs till recess. And _no one_ gets to theirs until I have had gotten mine signed first!" He demanded, holding up four pictures of the band from his desk.

Kenny, Clyde, Craig, and Token attempted to stifle their giggles. Yes, being famous would be something they will have to get use too.

_The End._


End file.
